More protection solutions needed for children and women

Hanoi (VNA) - While strides are being made to ensure safety for women and children, more still needs to be done, heard a workshop held by the Vietnam Women's Union in Hanoi on November 26.

Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai, head of the Family and Society Division under the Vietnam Women's Union, said provinces and cities across the country have been enhancing roles and responsibilities in ensuring safety. Many improvements had been made, but a lot more needs to be done, she said.

Over the past year, the women's union implemented a pilot model of a safe city in Da Nang and a safe village model in Thanh Hoa, Tuyen Quang and Kien Giang provinces, with practical activities such as building a happy family, safety on buses, food safety and building clubs with activities related to family happiness.

According to the official, women and children with disabilities have also received support. But there are still many problems. In 2017 and 2018, 2,600 cases of sexual abuse against women were reported nationwide and nearly 2,700 against children.

In addition to the achieved results, Mai said the implementation of the campaign showed some limitations and difficulties.

Mai said there were also serious concerns over workplace harassment and there was a negative effect on family life as more and more people migrate for work.

With the national campaign "Safe year for women and children" in 2020, women's union at all levels should prioritise the implementation of key activities related to the prevention and fighting against child abuse, she said.

Regarding child safety, Nguyen Thi Nga, Deputy Director of the Department of Children under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said from 2011 to June 2019 about five children were victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse each day.

To protect children, the current implementation of the law on child protection and child abuse prevention is still limited due to lack of awareness of children's self-protection responsibilities; lack of basic knowledge and skills, according to Nga.

Many families did not report or denounce acts of child sexual abuse, leading to crimes not being handled.

Meanwhile, awareness of responsibility and law enforcement capacity of local authorities, especially at commune and ward levels, is limited.

In order to protect children from sexual abuse in the future, the deputy director said laws needed to be reviewed and amended.

Inspection teams should be set up to ensure the implementation of children's rights, especially at non-public preschool education institutions in industrial parks and export processing zones.

The authorities needed to increase communication to prevent and combat child abuse, detect and report acts of violence against women and children and support health care, legal assistance and counselling.

At the forum, participants exchanged issues related to safety for women and children in urban and rural areas; shared experiences, initiatives and proposed solutions to protect women and children in the current period./.