Models and Services in Domestic Violence Prevention

From 2006 to 2011, through research results of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the General Statistics Office, and the Institute of Family and Gender, four direct causes leading to conflicts and domestic violence were identified: Drunkenness, different opinions in business, in daily life, and economic difficulties. With the phenomenon of "husband beating wife", the most mentioned cause was drunkenness (37.5%), followed by conflicts in daily life (23.8%). In addition, some other causes were also mentioned such as: conflicts in child-rearing, drug addiction, gambling, suspicion of adultery, etc. Qualitative data shows that the root cause of domestic violence is patriarchal ideology, the notion that the wife only has a dependent position in the family and the husband has the right to do whatever he wants [14].

Assessment of the awareness and attitudes of victims and violent husbands was conducted by the Vietnam Women's Union on 600 survey samples. The majority of husbands who had beaten their wives blamed their uncontrollable temper (56.7%) or drinking too much alcohol (29.5%). On the contrary, there were also many husbands who were very conservative and had a distorted perception of gender equality, believing that beating their wives was normal male behavior (22.8%) or something that needed to be done when their wives were wrong (10%) and over 50% of women who were beaten by their husbands gave this reason. Regarding the direct causes of conflicts in the family, it was shown that about 50% of couples had disagreements with varying degrees. Disagreements in married life are mainly related to economic matters (64.3%) or child rearing (36.8%), but acts of violence against women are mainly the husband's reaction to moral issues such as: disobeying (65%) or disrespecting parents-in-law (16%), improper relationships (15%) [29].

The project "Domestic violence in Vietnam and solutions to prevent and combat" with interviews with 1,026 household representatives in 4 provinces/cities pointed out 4 main causes: Drunkenness is still a direct factor associated with the husband's violent behavior towards his wife, with the reason that the husband is drunk leading to the behavior of beating his wife accounting for more than 50 of the reasons leading to this behavior; financial difficulties (22%) are the second most prominent reason leading to the phenomenon of depressed, frustrated husbands drinking a lot of alcohol, causing conflicts between husband and wife and indirectly causing violence against their wives; The family is having problems (10%); Due to jealousy (13.4%); Due to not listening to the husband (10.6%) [2].

The analysis in the “ Complete Report on the Estimated Economic Cost of Domestic Violence against Women in Viet Nam” used regression models to analyze the risk of domestic violence and found that: A woman who experienced violence as a child was 3.11 times more likely to have experienced violence in the past 12 months, and 2.78 times more likely to have experienced domestic violence in her lifetime. If a woman witnessed violence as a child, she was 1.89 times more likely to experience violence in her lifetime. The results for men also showed a higher risk of violence if he witnessed or experienced domestic violence in childhood. The results reinforce the message that violence is a learned behavior, and that the transmission of violence across generations is a major social and economic cost. The results of the analysis also confirmed a common finding that men’s drinking and gambling are important risk factors for current and past violence. If a husband drinks alcohol every day, the risk of current violence is nearly 3 times higher and the risk of lifetime violence is 2.6 times higher [37].

According to Ly Thi Minh Hang's research, one of the major causes that cannot be ignored in the current situation of domestic violence is women's lack of knowledge. What makes them not dare to fight for their rights and speak up for themselves against men's violent acts is the psychological difficulties they encounter in the fight against domestic violence. Through the research " Psychological difficulties of women in the fight against domestic violence " (Doctoral thesis in psychology), the author pointed out that women have many psychological difficulties in the fight against domestic violence, which are expressed in all three aspects: cognition, attitude and behavior. Of which, psychological difficulties are expressed in the most attitude. Women have a wrong perception of the role of women in the family regarding the issue of domestic violence as well as a wrong perception of the nature of domestic violence behavior. This has prevented women from seeing the need to fight against domestic violence. In particular, the appearance of negative attitudes during the struggle such as: negative attitudes towards oneself, lack of trust in the help of relatives and the community has prevented women from having the determination to act. In addition, women still have many difficulties in reducing avoidance behavior during the struggle and especially, there are many difficulties in finding ways to solve the problem of violence [26].

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In general, domestic studies have shown that the current situation of domestic violence in Vietnam is alarming. In which women are the most severely affected victims of violence by men. At the same time, the authors have analyzed the underlying causes of domestic violence from many different aspects through their studies. Through this, we can see that violence is not only a problem for women, but also a problem for men. Most of the violence is caused by men, so they need to be part of the solution to end violence. Men in all walks of life need to change their thinking and control over women. Men need to be educated to become men who always respect women, fully respect the value, dignity and rights of women - mothers, wives, partners, daughters and sisters like themselves.

1.2.2 Models and services in preventing domestic violence

Models and Services in Domestic Violence Prevention

Building and replicating the model of domestic violence prevention and control to improve the effectiveness of domestic violence prevention and control in the community is one of the important goals of the national program on domestic violence prevention and control in the period of 2011-2020. The national network of domestic violence prevention and control has the participation of agencies and organizations in the government and non-governmental organizations. Ministries: Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs; Ministry of Health; Ministry of Justice; Ministry of Public Security; Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Education and Training; Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front. Members of political and social organizations include: Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union; Vietnam General Confederation of Labor; Vietnam Veterans Association; Central Committee of the Vietnam Association of the Elderly; Vietnamese and international non-governmental organizations operating in Vietnam and individuals responsible for building a network of domestic violence prevention and control at the central and provincial/municipal levels to connect activities and information.

With the support of international organizations, many intervention activities have been carried out in localities across the country. Community intervention projects for victims of domestic violence were compiled by the group of authors Nguyen Huu Minh, Tran Thi Van Anh (2009) including projects such as:

The project "Improving medical care for victims of gender-based violence" in Gia Lam (Hanoi) was conducted by the Population Council in conjunction with the Hanoi Department of Health. As of March 2005, more than 300 clients had come for advice and help. This is a pilot model.

The experiment is considered effective and promising, because its activities are closely linked to the medical examination and treatment of the hospital. In addition, consultants and staff from related sectors have organized many forms of communication: Documents, billboards, radio and television programs; established and maintained the activities of clubs in the community such as the club of the group supporting victims of domestic violence called "Volunteers for family happiness" and the club for victims of activities called "For family happiness" which are highly appreciated by the community for their effectiveness.

RaFH, with the support of the Swiss Development and Assistance Organization, the Embassy of New Zealand, the Embassy of Switzerland, has implemented the project ― Preventing Domestic Violence against Women: an intervention in Ninh Binh Province, Vietnam 2004‖. Thanks to the active activities of the project, the work of preventing domestic violence against women has received the attention of local leaders and mass organizations, creating political will for activities aimed at eliminating domestic violence against women and improving the status of women. The work of preventing domestic violence against women has been gradually integrated into local policies and action plans. People's awareness of domestic violence prevention has been raised.

The project "DVSD for women, gender equality at the grassroots and community level" implemented by the Women's Union of Ha Tay province in 2004 has had the effect of raising awareness of domestic violence for officials and people in 5 communes implementing the project. After 1 year of project implementation, the number of domestic violence cases against women has decreased compared to the previous period [36].

In the book For a society without violence against women and children (2002) , activities to prevent violence against women include strengthening education and propaganda on gender equality and women's rights for the community; Establishing a network of groups, units, and organizations with the function of intervening to end violence against women in the community from the village, hamlet to commune, district, and province levels; Developing activities of the health sector as well as medical staff to support female victims of violence [42].

In the two provinces of Phu Tho and Ben Tre, through community interventions, two communes of Doan Hung district, Van Du and Doan Hung town (Phu Tho), have benefited from the UNFPA gender equality project since 2004. In this project, each commune established a Steering Committee for Gender Equality Prevention and Control, including: the head of the committee is the chairman or vice chairman.

The chairman of the commune people's committee and the vice chairman of the women's union, in addition to members including women's union officials, police officers, justice, youth union, and veterans. The task of the Steering Committee for Domestic Violence Prevention and Control is to direct or directly intervene and resolve each case of domestic violence occurring in the locality and bring the victim to a safe place to help the victim stabilize mentally and physically; Build the "For Family Happiness" club to encourage members to build harmonious, happy, equal family relationships and no domestic violence [46].

Tran Tuyet Anh and colleagues (2017) have synthesized and evaluated the activities of the PCBLGĐ to support victims of domestic violence with 2 activities: prevention of domestic violence and intervention activities for domestic violence behavior, supporting victims. In the activities of preventing domestic violence, the role and effectiveness of the PCBLGĐ group stands out, not only performing interventions but also providing counseling and quick support for both victims and perpetrators to immediately end the violence and take the victims to a trusted address or medical station if necessary. In addition to establishing PCBLGĐ groups to promptly handle domestic violence, other forms such as inter-family groups, clubs, and branches of organizations also play an important role in supporting victims of domestic violence through club activities such as activities and many games to help victims of domestic violence confidently speak out about their domestic violence status [1]. Regarding intervention activities including the intervention of bringing victims to safe shelters, the 2013 survey results showed that 52.5% of people rated this measure as effective. The intervention of bringing victims to medical facilities was rated as good by 51.5% of respondents. The 2012 survey results showed that a higher proportion of respondents rated the intervention of bringing victims to safe shelters by the government and organizations as effective (82.3%) [10].

In the protection and support activities for victims of domestic violence, legal aid services for victims of domestic violence are included. The legal aid system at the provincial and municipal levels and the commune-level legal aid clubs provide free legal services, including legal advice, legal representation, petitions and mediation through a team of legal staff and collaborators in the system; Vocational training, job referrals and capital support for victims of domestic violence are among the sustainable solutions to reduce acts of domestic violence caused by family economic difficulties and lack of stable employment [1].

Building a trusted address in the community is one of the five types of support for victims of domestic violence, aiming to provide advice, resolve conflicts, domestic violence, and support victims of domestic violence and trafficking to return home. The purpose of this activity is to propagate, mobilize and build

"trusted addresses" in the community to support and help victims of domestic violence in a timely manner with temporary shelters and other essential needs to avoid risks to health and life, and minimize the consequences of domestic violence. According to the results of the statistical report in 61/63 provinces and cities in 2014, 32,205 trusted addresses were established and assisted 6,234 victims of domestic violence in 2014 [13].

Supporting victims of domestic violence at medical examination and treatment facilities: victims are received by medical examination and treatment facilities in the area for emergency care, examination and special treatment in the counseling, care and medical assurance activities of the health agency for patients who are victims of domestic violence. After the patient is mentally stable, the doctor advises the patient on how to care for, restore health and prevent disease. At the same time, knowledge about the law, skills of domestic violence prevention, self-protection and seeking help are also shared and provided by medical staff to the patient. According to the report of the Ministry of Health, in the past 5 years, a number of units have received and cared for a number of patients who are victims of domestic violence such as Nam Dinh Department of Health (1,017 cases), Quang Binh Department of Health (4,952 cases); Ninh Thuan Department of Health (2,212 cases), Son La Department of Health (118 cases) [16].

Support for victims of domestic violence in social protection facilities: Victims of domestic violence are included in the group of subjects in need of emergency protection in social protection centers. When admitted to the center for victims of domestic violence, they will receive psychological counseling and support both mentally and materially (VND 360,000/person/month). According to the 2012 report on domestic violence data, the number of victims of domestic violence admitted to the social protection facility system was 527 cases [1].

Currently, there are three shelter models operating in Vietnam. The first model is a national shelter (Peace House) operated by the Vietnam Association. This model provides temporary shelter and ancillary services including legal support, health care, counseling, and vocational skills for victims of domestic violence. This model has been replicated in the two provinces of Thua Thien - Hue and Phu Tho. The second model is implemented by the Center for Research and Applied Sciences on Gender - Family - Women and Adolescents (CSAGA ) . This model establishes a hotline,

providing legal advice and support, temporary shelter, and referral to government shelters in severe cases. A third model, initiated by Thai Binh province, maintains a list of “safe places” for women. This model is also being implemented in Phu Tho and Hai Duong. Each woman is provided with money to pay for a bed, emergency first aid kit, phone card, and a nightly allowance when she uses these safe places. Local shelters support women to leave their children at home but still maintain contact with them [11],[45].

The project "Protecting women's rights and empowering victims of gender-based violence in Quang Ninh" is funded by Oxfam Novib (Netherlands) . The project is implemented by the Provincial Women's Union with the goal of protecting women's rights and empowering victims of gender-based violence so that they can have a better life, free from violence and create conditions to help them reintegrate into the community and society. The main activities of the project include: Carrying out communication activities to raise awareness among people in 24 communes in 6 districts of Quang Ninh province about women's rights and preventing gender-based violence; organizing training activities to improve the capacity of implementing local laws and policies related to women's rights for officials of the Quang Ninh Provincial Women's Union and relevant agencies; organizing activities to share results and discuss policy proposals related to preventing gender-based violence and promoting gender equality in the locality. In particular, the project also established and maintained the operation of the "Shelter for victims of gender-based violence". Here, victims are provided with free accommodation and meals (up to 6 months), psychological counseling and guidance on some basic life skills such as: conflict resolution skills, skills to cope with stressful situations, skills to seek support... At the same time, they are supported with medical examination and treatment, legal advice and are taught some professions if needed. After more than a year of operation (from April 2014 to the end of 2015), the Shelter has received and supported more than 130 victims of domestic violence, (of which 85 people stayed at the Shelter and came to the Shelter for consultation) [89].

In a statement on March 5, 2020, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that domestic violence has increased dramatically globally in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic affecting society and the world economy, emphasizing that "For many women and girls, the Covid 19 pandemic is forcing them to face

with the greatest threat where they should be safest. That is violence in their own homes. Protecting women should and must be part of the plan to fight the Covid 19 pandemic ‖. The Government of Viet Nam, the Government of Australia, UNFPA, UNICEF and UN Women are working together in the project Supporting Interventions to Eliminate Violence against Women and Children in Viet Nam in the Context of COVID-19. The purpose of the Project is to support the Government and civil society organizations to strengthen national prevention and response to address violence against women and children in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, to ensure that all Vietnamese women and children, especially the most vulnerable, can live a life free of violence with the message "Protect children - Say no to violence - Green heart - Safety for women - Say no to violence" . The campaign calls on the public, parents/caregivers/family members, women, men, girls, boys, neighbors, teachers and local authorities to speak out against and report violence. The campaign also provides knowledge and skills for women and children to prevent violence and abuse, improve the mental health and psychological well-being of those affected and ensure a safe living environment for children [94].

The Anh Duong House is one of 18 facilities providing services to respond to gender-based violence piloted by the Department of Gender Equality, which was inaugurated in April 2020 in Quang Ninh Province - the first province selected to pilot the project "Building a model to support the prevention and control of violence against women and girls in Quang Ninh" through the construction of a model of the Center for Intervention and Prevention of Violence against Women and Girls (hereinafter referred to as "Anh Duong House"). The staff of the Anh Duong House is on duty 24/7. They are equipped with the necessary skills to deal with sensitive information related to gender-based violence. Any victim of gender-based violence in need is received, intervened, and supported promptly to resolve the problem of violence. The services provided at the Sunshine House are based on the principle of putting victims at the center, victims are treated with respect, equality, and ensure confidentiality of information. Opening facilities to support victims of violence such as the Sunshine House is extremely necessary - it will be a safe place for victims of violence, where they are provided with essential support services and timely, adequate and quality care.

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