Viet Nam: Protection and services provided by the state and NGOs to adult women victims of rape or incest (2010-2013)

Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

1. Statistics

Information on the number of rape or incest cases reported in the country could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2010, published by the US Department of State, reports that there is "no information available on the extent" of rape cases in Viet Nam (US 8 Apr. 2011, 36).

2. Legislation

2.1 Rape

Country Reports for 2012 notes that rape, including spousal rape, is criminalized in Viet Nam (US 19 Apr. 2013, 34). The Penal Code of Viet Nam states that [translation] "any person who uses violence, threatens to use violence or takes advantage of the victim's state of being unable for self-defense or resorts to other methods in order to have sexual intercourse with the victim against the latter's will shall be sentenced to between two and seven years of imprisonment" (Viet Nam 1999, Art. 111.1). In some aggravating circumstances, namely, in rape cases of an incestuous nature, the code provides for 7 to 15 years of imprisonment (ibid., Art. 111.2). In addition, the Code provides for [translation] "between 12 and 20 years of imprisonment," "life imprisonment" or "capital punishment" if the rape causes significant harm or death to the victim (ibid., Art. 111.3). The Code adds that [translation] "[t]he offender may be banned from holding certain posts, practicing certain occupations or doing certain jobs for one to five years" (ibid., Art. 111.5).

Country Reports for 2012 states that the Vietnamese government has not published arrest, prosecution or conviction statistics for rape cases (US 19 Apr. 2013, 34).

2.2 Incest

According to the penal code, [translation] "[t]hose who have sexual intercourse with other persons of direct blood lines, with sisters or brothers born of common parents, with half-brothers or half-sisters, shall be sentenced to between six months and five years of imprisonment" (ibid., Art. 150). An article published in the scientific journal Culture, Health & Sexuality: An International Journal for Research, Intervention and Care about the disclosure of rape within kin groups, states that the Vietnamese concept of incest includes people related by adoption or marriage within three generations of the family (Huong 16 May 2012, 42). Corroborating or further information on incest and rape could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints for this Response.

3. Protection Measures

In correspondence sent to the Research Directorate, a Ph.D. student at the University of Amsterdam who studies issues related to gender, sexuality and violence in Viet Nam, and who also runs an NGO dedicated to public health issues, including those concerning sexuality, stated that victims of sexual assault, including victims of rape or incest, as well as their family, can file a complaint directly with the police (23 Jan. 2014). Country Reports for 2012 states that "[a]uthorities reportedly prosecuted rape cases fully" (US 19 Apr. 2013, 34).

However, the Ph.D. student states that, depending on the circumstances, the police and the local authorities are not always willing to intervene in cases of sexual assault (Ph.D. student 23 Jan. 2014). According to the Ph.D. student, the authorities can respond "slowly" when the victim comes from a poor and disadvantaged family or if she is divorced or a single mother (ibid.). She explained that, although society and the authorities generally condemn perpetrators of sexual assault, the victims can be treated differently based on how they are perceived; this perception depends particularly on their lifestyle and their behaviour (ibid.). Similarly, in correspondence with the Research Directorate, a professor of Anthropology at the University of Copenhagen, who researches sexual and reproductive health and its role in the establishment of social connections in Viet Nam, stated that there is a "strong tendency to blame the victim [of the sexual violence]" (Professor of Anthropology 23 Jan. 2014).

With respect to incest, the Ph.D. student stated that it is "very taboo" in Viet Nam and that a number of victims and their families choose not to report these cases (23 Jan. 2014). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

4. Support Services

In an analysis of services provided in Viet Nam to address gender-based violence [GBV], the US Agency for International Development (USAID) states that [US English version] "GBV services are extremely limited in Vietnam" (US Mar. 2012, 8). The Ph.D. student also stated that there are "very few resource[s]" in the country for victims of sexual assault, including rape (Ph.D. student 23 Jan. 2014). She stated that in rural regions in particular, women have access to few or almost no resources (ibid.). Similarly, the Professor of anthropology stated that "[s]ocial assistance of any kind to victims of sexual assault is extremely limited" (Professor of anthropology 23 Jan. 2014). According to her, "[a] woman who is traumatized due to a sexual assault will most likely have to find her own ways of recovering, without any social assistance"; she added that "[the victim runs] a risk of being further humiliated/excluded if she discloses her problems and seeks help" (ibid.).

Nevertheless, the USAID analysis reports that specialized services are available in two hospitals in Hanoi and in a [US English version] "limited number" of communes in the vicinity of these hospitals (US Mar. 2012, 8). In addition, the report states that there are other programs that are partly managed by government organizations, but that "almost all are small in scale, scattered across the country" (ibid.).

According to the Ph.D. student, there is no one-stop centre that provides services specifically for victims of sexual assault (Ph.D. student 23 Jan. 2014). She states that there are some hotlines, but notes that these hotlines have instead been put in place to prevent human trafficking and domestic violence (ibid.). According to the Ph.D. student, there are also some small shelters for young women in Ho Chi Minh City who have been victims of sexual abuse, as well as a shelter called Peace House, in Hanoi, for women who are victims of domestic violence and human trafficking; this shelter is operated by the Center for Women and Development of the Vietnam Women's Union (ibid.). The Ph.D. student also stated that there are local and international NGOs and lawyers who specialize in gender-related issues (ibid.). Country Reports for 2012 also states that NGOs affiliated with the Women's Union are engaged in women's issues, particularly those concerning violence against women (US 19 Apr. 2013, 35).

Information on the services provided by the NGOs or the government to women victims of rape or incest could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Huong, Ngyuyen Thu. 16 May 2012. "Rape Disclosure: the Interpaly of Gender, Culture and Kinship in Contemporary Vietnam." Culture, Health & Sexuality : An International Journal for Research, Intervention and Care. Vol. 14, Sup.1. [Accessed 17 Jan. 2013]

Ph.D. student, University of Amsterdam. 23 January 2014. Correspondence sent to the Research Directorate.

Professor of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen. 23 January 2014. Correspondence sent to the Research Directorate.

United States (US) 19 April 2013. "Vietnam." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012. [Accessed 17 Jan. 2013]

_____. March 2012. United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Analyse des services d'action contre les violences basées sur le genre dans trois pays. [Accessed 17 Jan. 2013]

_____. 8 April 2011. "Vietnam." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2010. [Accessed 24 Jan. 2013]

Viet Nam. 1999. Penal Code of Viet Nam. [Accessed 17 Jan. 2013]

Additional Sources Consulted

Publications: Gender-Based Violence in Viet Nam: Strengthening the Response by Measuring and Acting on the Social Determinants of Health; The Politics of Gender and Social Protection in Viet Nam: Opportunities and Challenges for a Transformative Approach.

Oral sources: Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Seattle University; Research officer, Institute of Development Studies, United Kingdom. The Hanoi International Women's Club was unable to provide information within the time constraints of this Response. Attempts to contact the following persons and organizations were unsuccessful: Assistant Professor of Anthropology, College of the Holy Cross, Massachusetts; Center for Legal Research on Human and Citizen Rights; Centre for Women and Development; Hagar Vietnam; Institute for Family and Gender Studies; Professor of Anthropology, Tulane University; Professor of Public Health, Tulane University; Professor of Sociology, Université de Bonn; Professor of Women's and Gender Studies, Rutgers University; Research Centre for Gender and Development; Research Centre for Gender, Family and Environment in Development; Research Centre for Human and Citizen's Rights; Research officer, Overseas Development Institute; Vietnam Women's Union; Vietnamese Institute for Human Rights; Vietnam National University - Center for Women's Studies.

Internet sites, including: ActionAid; Agence japonaise de coopération internationale; Le Courrier du Vietnam; ecoi.net; Factiva; International Centre for Research on Women; International Women's Rights Action Watch; Musée des femmes du Vietnam; Le Nouvel Observateur; Sexual Violence Research Initiative; Southeast Asia Resource Action Center; Thanh Nien; University of California Berkeley Library - Vietnam Women's Studies Bibliography; University of Iowa - Women Studies Ressources; University of Toronto Law Library - Women's Human Rights Resources Database; United Kingdom - Home Office, Foreign & Commonwealth Office; United Nations - United Nations Development Fund for Women, Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund, UN Women, Refworld; Viet Nam - Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Labour - Invalids and Social Affairs, Ministry of Public Security, National Committee for the Advancement of Women in Vietnam; Voice of Vietnam; World Bank; World Health Organization.