Some notable contents of the Draft Law on Prevention and Control of Domestic Violence (amended)

The Draft Law on Prevention and Control of Domestic Violence stipulates:

- People at high risk of domestic violence are those who have one of the following symptoms and living conditions:Having committed acts of domestic violence; Having gender prejudice; Addicted to alcohol, beer, drugs and other addictive substances; Addicted to gambling, violent games, obscene cultural products; Living in an environment where domestic violence is frequent, with many bad customs that promote violence; People who cannot control violent behavior.

-Domestic violence includes:Torturing, mistreating, beating or other intentional acts that harm health or life; Insulting or other intentional acts that offend honor or dignity; Isolating, shunning or causing constant psychological pressure that causes physical or mental harm; Neglecting or not caring for family members who are elderly, pregnant women, women with young children, children, people with disabilities, sick people who are unable to care for themselves;

Neglecting, abandoning, not caring for, not educating a child family member; Discriminating against the gender of a family member when dividing inherited property; Disparaging the body or gender of a family member or a person giving birth to a child with a gender that is not as desired by other family members.

Preventing family members from participating in legitimate social activities; Preventing the exercise of rights and obligations in relationships between family members; Disseminating images, information, and private documents of family members without their consent; in the case of children, the consent of their parents or guardians is required;

Forced sexual intercourse; forced sexual acts against the will of the spouse; sexual abuse of children or other family members; Forced listening to sounds, watching images, reading content, performing acts that are obscene, inciting violence and violating the law; Forced early marriage, marriage, divorce or preventing voluntary, progressive marriage;

Forcing wife or husband to get pregnant, abortion, choosing the sex of the fetus.

Appropriating or destroying other family members' private property or the family's common property; Having the ability and obligation to make financial contributions but failing to do so; forcing family members to make financial contributions beyond their ability; Controlling family members' assets and income to create a state of financial dependence; Forcing family members to work or study too hard or to leave their legal residence illegally.

The Draft Law also stipulates that the acts of violence specified in Clause 1 of this Article also apply to divorced people, people living together as husband and wife, and people who have had a caring and nurturing relationship.

Nghe An Women's Union has deployed many models and clubs to support propaganda against domestic violence. Photo courtesy of Mai Hoa

-Prohibited from contact by decision of the Chairman of the People's Committee at the commune level:The Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune where domestic violence occurs decides to apply the measure of prohibiting contact for no more than 3 days at a time when all of the following conditions are met:

The person suffering from domestic violence, the guardian or legal representative requests a ban on contact. In case a competent authority or organization requests it, the consent of the person suffering from domestic violence must be obtained;

Acts of domestic violence cause harm or threaten to cause harm to the health or threaten the life of the person suffering from domestic violence. In cases where the person suffering from domestic violence is a child, the application of measures to prohibit the person committing acts of domestic violence from contacting the child shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law on children.

No later than 12 hours after receiving the request as prescribed in Point a, Clause 1 of this Article, the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee shall consider and decide to apply the measure of prohibiting contact; in case of not making a decision, he/she must notify in writing and clearly state the reason to the agency, organization, or person requesting the decision. The decision of prohibiting contact shall take effect immediately after signing and shall be sent to the person committing domestic violence, the person suffering from domestic violence, the Chief of the Commune Police, the police managing the area, and the Head of the Village, Head of the Residential Group where the person suffering from domestic violence resides.

The Chairman of the People's Committee at the commune level who issues the decision to prohibit contact is the person who shall revoke that decision upon request of the person suffering from domestic violence or when the statute of limitations for applying the decision to prohibit contact has expired. When applying the decision to prohibit contact, the person suffering from domestic violence has the right to choose a place to live during the period of prohibition of contact.

The person who is prohibited from contact must keep a distance of 50m or more from the person who is the victim of domestic violence during the entire period of the prohibition of contact. In cases where there is a barrier to ensure the safety of the person who is the victim of domestic violence, the minimum distance does not apply.

A person who commits domestic violence and violates the decision to prohibit contact shall be subject to administrative detention to prevent domestic violence. The application of technology to support the monitoring of the implementation of the measure to prohibit contact is encouraged. In the event of a family wedding, funeral or other special circumstances, the person committing domestic violence and the person being abused come into contact with each other, the person committing domestic violence must report to the person issuing the decision to prohibit contact in order to be allowed to have contact under the management of the commune-level police where the contact between the person being prohibited from contact and the person being abused occurs.

-Prohibition of contact by decision of the prosecuting authorities:The People's Court that is handling or resolving a civil case involving a person suffering from domestic violence shall decide to apply a measure of prohibiting contact for a period not exceeding 4 months in the following cases: Upon request of the person suffering from domestic violence, the guardian or legal representative or a competent agency or organization; in case a competent agency or organization makes a request, the consent of the person suffering from domestic violence must be obtained;

The People's Court shall issue a decision prohibiting contact on its own initiative if it deems it necessary to protect the life, health, and honor of the person suffering from domestic violence, unless the person suffering from domestic violence refuses. The decision prohibiting contact shall take effect immediately upon signing and shall be sent to the person committing the act of domestic violence, the person suffering from domestic violence, the Chairman of the People's Committee at the commune level, the head of the residential community where the person suffering from domestic violence resides, and the People's Procuracy at the same level.

The agency conducting the proceedings that has issued a decision prohibiting contact as prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article shall revoke the decision prohibiting contact upon request from the person suffering from domestic violence or when it is deemed that this measure is no longer necessary. In cases where the family has a funeral, wedding or other special cases where the person committing domestic violence and the person suffering from domestic violence must contact each other, the provisions of Clause 7, Article 33 of this Law shall apply.

-Monitoring the implementation of the contact ban:The commune-level police organize the supervision of the implementation of the decision to prohibit contact by the Chairman of the People's Committee at the commune level and the decision to prohibit contact by the People's Court. The assigned supervisor has the duty to monitor the implementation of the decision to prohibit contact. When discovering that a person committing domestic violence has violated the decision to prohibit contact, the assigned supervisor has the right to request the person committing domestic violence to strictly comply with the regulations of the prohibition order; in case of intentional violation, the person must report to the Chief of the Commune-level Police for handling according to the provisions of law.

Localities in Nghe An hold a parade to promote domestic violence prevention. Photo courtesy of Huu Hoan

-Prohibited actsincluding:Acts of domestic violence specified in Article 4 of this Law. Failure to comply with preventive and handling measures of competent agencies, organizations and individuals in preventing and combating domestic violence. Coercing, inciting, inciting, or assisting others to commit acts of domestic violence. Retaliating or threatening to take revenge on those who help victims of domestic violence, or those who discover, report, or prevent acts of domestic violence. Failure to handle or improper handling of reports or denunciations of domestic violence cases. Using applications of science, technology, and social networks to incite, incite, assist, or cause violence against family members..Obstructing the detection, reporting and handling of domestic violence. Taking advantage of domestic violence prevention and control activities to commit illegal acts, contrary to the fine cultural traditions of Vietnamese families..Tolerating, covering up, not handling, or handling not in accordance with the law, acts of domestic violence.

-Rights and responsibilities of victims of domestic violence:Victims of domestic violence have the following rights: To request competent agencies, organizations, and individuals to protect their health, life, dignity, and other legitimate rights and interests; To request competent agencies and individuals to apply measures to prevent, protect, and prohibit contact according to the provisions of this Law; To be arranged a temporary shelter, and to have their temporary shelter and other information kept confidential according to the provisions of this Law; To be provided with medical services, psychological counseling, legal aid, and social assistance services;

Requesting people who commit acts of domestic violence to compensate for damage to property, health, honor and dignity; Being informed about related rights and obligations when resolving conflicts and disputes in the family, handling cases of domestic violence; Complaining, denouncing and other rights as prescribed by law related to preventing and combating domestic violence.

Victims of domestic violence have the responsibility to provide complete and honest information related to the domestic violence incident to competent authorities, organizations, and individuals.

-Responsibility of the person committing domestic violence: Immediately stop acts of domestic violence. Comply with the decisions of competent agencies, organizations and individuals when applying measures to prevent, handle and educate acts of domestic violence. Promptly take victims of domestic violence to the emergency room and receive treatment; care for victims of domestic violence, except in cases where the victim of domestic violence refuses..Actively remedy the consequences caused to victims of domestic violence; compensate for damages caused to victims of domestic violence and those participating in preventing and combating domestic violence.