Law

When women in Nghe An border area become legal propagandists

Khanh Ly-Thanh Phuc • DNUM_CHZAFZCACF 11:29

In the border commune of Thong Thu (Que Phong district, Nghe An province), women's union members are not only a "bridge" bringing legal policies to the village, but also a core force participating in firmly protecting border security and sovereignty.

Every sister is a propagandist

Visiting Loc village in Thong Thu border commune (Que Phong district), from afar you can hear the bustling laughter at the village community cultural house.

When asked, the villagers said that today the women invited each other to attend a regular meeting at the Women and Law Club.

The content of the meeting focused on giving opinions on amending and supplementing the 2013 Constitution. After being informed about the purpose, meaning and contents that needed to be commented on, the women were instructed by the Women's Union of Thong Thu commune on how to give opinions through the VNeiD application.

Smiling after the phone screen showed that her suggestion was successful, Ms. Vi Thi Dung (59 years old, Thai ethnic group), a member of the Women with Law Club of Loc village, said: Thanks to the propaganda, she understood that people not only "know" but also "discuss" and "participate" in building the country's supreme legal framework.

She also said that she joined the club from the very first days of its establishment. Thanks to regular updates on new policies and guidelines, women not only improved their knowledge, but also protected themselves and protected women's rights.

It is known that the "Women with the Law" Club in Loc village was established in 2010 and has maintained effective operations until now. The club currently has 65 members, meeting every 2 months.

Before each meeting, the Women's Union of Thong Thu commune coordinates with the commune's judiciary to provide new documents and legal documents to the Club's Executive Board to convey to women as soon as possible, so that each Club member is an active propagandist in propagating the Party's policies and the State's laws to women members and the people.

In addition to concentrated propaganda, distributing leaflets, brochures, or innovating with democratic flower picking activities, quizzes with prizes with contents related to legal knowledge, the Club's Executive Board also directly propagates and surveys households. Especially contents related to the Law on Marriage and Family, Law on Gender Equality...

Through this, it has provided timely support to some women to resolve family problems. A typical case is that of Ms. Quang Thi Ph. (born in 1984), whose husband and wife had conflicts because the husband often came home drunk and cursed and mentally abused his wife.

Talking about the effectiveness of the Club model, Mr. Luong Van Huan - Chairman of the People's Committee of Thong Thu commune, said: As a mountainous border commune located in the Northwest of Que Phong district, bordering the Lao PDR with 33,737 km of border, Thong Thu commune has 8 villages, hamlets, 8 Women's Associations with more than 995 members.

Due to the difficulties in material and spiritual life, limited awareness and compliance with the law among the people, some female members, women and people are still taken advantage of by bad elements to commit illegal acts such as trading, transporting and storing drugs, firecrackers, illegally sending people abroad, child marriage, etc.

Therefore, along with activities to strengthen legal education and propaganda among the people, the Party Committee and the government of Thong Thu commune have directed the Women's Union to coordinate with departments and branches to establish models, including the "Women and Law" Club in Loc village.

Through club activities, women's awareness of the law is increasingly raised, the rate of early marriage is reduced, women not only protect themselves from "traps" but also become active propagandists, contributing to maintaining security and order in the area.

Contribute to keeping the border peaceful

Along with disseminating the law, women in Thong Thu commune are also the core force in protecting border sovereignty and security. Notably, the activities of the Women's Club participating in protecting border sovereignty and security at the Women's Association of Muong Piet village - an area bordering Nam Tay village cluster, Sam To district (Laos).

According to Ms. Vi Thi Tam - President of the Women's Union of Thong Thu commune: Previously, before the club was established, women members of the Muong Piet border village often went into the forest to pick bamboo shoots and raise buffaloes and cows. Due to limited awareness, there were cases of violating border regulations.

Therefore, the Commune Women's Union continues to coordinate with Thong Thu Border Guard Station to establish the model of "Women participating in protecting border security and sovereignty" club.

After being established and put into operation, the Club's Executive Committee and the Commune Women's Union continued to coordinate with Thong Thu Border Guard Station to meet and propagate to more than 55 cases of women who regularly graze buffaloes, cows and pick bamboo shoots and forest products across the border to understand and strictly comply with the regulations.

Of these, 25 women have applied to join the Club and become active members in educating their relatives and the community about border security and sovereignty.

Ms. Luong Thi Dinh - Head of the Women's Club participating in protecting sovereignty and security of the border in Thong Thu commune, said: The club organizes activities once a month, focusing on propaganda, dissemination of legal education, improving knowledge for women members about foreign affairs; preventing crimes, social evils; protecting territorial sovereignty and national security.

The activities of the Women's Club participating in protecting border sovereignty and security are diverse and rich, such as: discussions, cultural exchanges, carving competitions, gong competitions, volleyball competitions, democratic flower picking, learning about legal knowledge, etc., thus attracting a large number of female members to participate.

From 30 members at the beginning, the club has now attracted 65 women members in the village to participate in its activities. Thanks to that, women members have raised their awareness in complying with border regulations, not encroaching on land, not illegally crossing the border, not grazing livestock in the border belt area, actively participating with forces to clear the border, border markers, and patrol and protect the border.

According to Major Dinh Ngoc Tuyen - Captain of the Reconnaissance Team of Thong Thu Border Guard Station: "In the area under the unit's management, men often go far away to work, so women from villages and hamlets participating in production in the border farming areas have become the "eyes and ears" of the Border Guard in protecting border security.

To help women improve their knowledge, each session of the border force will coordinate with the Club's Executive Board to focus on disseminating the National Border Law, Vietnam Border Law, Drug Prevention Law, Human Trafficking Prevention Law, Marriage and Family Law, Child Marriage Prevention Law, Domestic Violence Prevention Law and the tricks and plots of bad guys so that women are not taken advantage of and enticed to violate the law.

Since the Club was established, the awareness of women in complying with border regulations has been raised; Club members also actively cooperate with Thong Thu Border Guard Station to participate in patrolling border lines and landmarks, protecting sovereignty and border security, demonstrating the sense of responsibility of citizens towards the Fatherland.

Along with propaganda work, to create cohesion among members, the "Women with the Law" Club or the "Women participating in protecting border security and sovereignty" Club both have activities such as supporting working days, breeding animals, raising revolving funds to help members develop the economy and sustainably reduce poverty.

“For poor villages and hamlets in border areas, 15 million VND of revolving capital is a large amount of money to support many women to invest in developing livestock and production to escape poverty and stabilize their lives. At the same time, it fosters solidarity, mutual support and sharing so that women can see the meaning of participating in the club model,” said Ms. Luong Thi Dinh - Head of the Women's Club participating in protecting sovereignty and security at the border.

In addition, the Women's Union of Thong Thu commune also coordinated with the Border Guard Station to call for resources such as the program "Accompanying women in the border areas" to support the construction of livelihood models to help women develop household economies.

A typical example is the family of Ms. Luong Thi Dung, Muong Piet village, one of 5 members supported with a livelihood model, with initial support capital of a pair of breeding pigs worth 5 million VND.

After 2 years of care, her family has 2 mother pigs providing piglets for local people, providing a stable income.

The practical activities of models such as the "Women participating in protecting border security and sovereignty" club and the "Women with the law" club have truly become bright spots, contributing to maintaining security and order, border security and sovereignty in border areas.

At the same time, affirming the role and "autonomous" position of ethnic minority women in the community.