Vccinews | Dec 17, 2015
This content was agreed on by experts at a workshop organised by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam in Hanoi on December 7, 2015. The event aimed to address gaps in the framework for legal aid and provide access to justice for Vietnamese women.
Delivering the opening speech, Ms Shoko Ishikawa, UN Women Country Representative for Vietnam, said women’s lack of equal access to family income is affecting and hindering their access to legal aid to pursue justice. The amendment of Legal Aid Law provides opportunities for addressing gaps in the legal framework for legal aid, thus enhancing women’s access to justice in Vietnam.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Vietnamese women have little access to legal aid, and 77 percent of domestic violence cases are not brought to the attention of legal aid providers. National research on domestic violence also showed that 50 percent of female victims never report domestic violence to anyone; 87 percent of women suffering from violence surveyed never seek support from official legal aid services or agencies.
Meanwhile, access to legal aid is not only a major concern of some groups such as victims of domestic violence, but also women living in rural areas with their economic rights being affected by gender bias in distribution of land and other assets, and women living with HIV who often face ignominy and discrimination in access to health services. In the current Legal Aid Law, the above groups of women find access to legal assistance difficult when they are in dire need. Current policies overlook gender inequality as not all women are able to access family income, while the eligibility for legal aid merely takes the family income into account.
Remarking on barriers to justice assistance to women, Mr Tran Nguyen Tu, an expert from the Department of Legal Aid under the Ministry of Justice, said the law does not provide legal aid for women in general and lacks legal aid forms for women. There are no separate orders and procedures for women who are victims of gender-based violence (GBV), especially in providing proof. Many women (victims of domestic violence) are not aware of their rights to legal aid or feel reluctant to access legal aid. Legal aid providers in legal aid centres have not been trained in the skills to work with victims of domestic violence.
To address the above issues and strengthen access to justice and legal aid, Dr Dao Le Thu, an expert from Hanoi Law University, suggested allowing more people to receive legal aid such as people living near the poverty line and female victims of gender-based violence.
In addition, legal aid services are necessarily socialised to mobilise social resources to train legal assistants on gender sensitivity and gender responsibility.
Besides, participants at the workshop agreed that a legal aid system that fulfils Vietnam’s international human rights obligations must assure that all people, regardless of their gender or economic status, have access to courts for protection of all rights such as civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. These rights include the right to housing, subsistence and other necessities for all people, including women, men, children and minority people.
Thu Ha
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December 19, 2015
Vietnamese Women Need Better Access to Justice
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights]
Vccinews | Dec 17, 2015
This content was agreed on by experts at a workshop organised by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam in Hanoi on December 7, 2015. The event aimed to address gaps in the framework for legal aid and provide access to justice for Vietnamese women.
Delivering the opening speech, Ms Shoko Ishikawa, UN Women Country Representative for Vietnam, said women’s lack of equal access to family income is affecting and hindering their access to legal aid to pursue justice. The amendment of Legal Aid Law provides opportunities for addressing gaps in the legal framework for legal aid, thus enhancing women’s access to justice in Vietnam.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Vietnamese women have little access to legal aid, and 77 percent of domestic violence cases are not brought to the attention of legal aid providers. National research on domestic violence also showed that 50 percent of female victims never report domestic violence to anyone; 87 percent of women suffering from violence surveyed never seek support from official legal aid services or agencies.
Meanwhile, access to legal aid is not only a major concern of some groups such as victims of domestic violence, but also women living in rural areas with their economic rights being affected by gender bias in distribution of land and other assets, and women living with HIV who often face ignominy and discrimination in access to health services. In the current Legal Aid Law, the above groups of women find access to legal assistance difficult when they are in dire need. Current policies overlook gender inequality as not all women are able to access family income, while the eligibility for legal aid merely takes the family income into account.
Remarking on barriers to justice assistance to women, Mr Tran Nguyen Tu, an expert from the Department of Legal Aid under the Ministry of Justice, said the law does not provide legal aid for women in general and lacks legal aid forms for women. There are no separate orders and procedures for women who are victims of gender-based violence (GBV), especially in providing proof. Many women (victims of domestic violence) are not aware of their rights to legal aid or feel reluctant to access legal aid. Legal aid providers in legal aid centres have not been trained in the skills to work with victims of domestic violence.
To address the above issues and strengthen access to justice and legal aid, Dr Dao Le Thu, an expert from Hanoi Law University, suggested allowing more people to receive legal aid such as people living near the poverty line and female victims of gender-based violence.
In addition, legal aid services are necessarily socialised to mobilise social resources to train legal assistants on gender sensitivity and gender responsibility.
Besides, participants at the workshop agreed that a legal aid system that fulfils Vietnam’s international human rights obligations must assure that all people, regardless of their gender or economic status, have access to courts for protection of all rights such as civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. These rights include the right to housing, subsistence and other necessities for all people, including women, men, children and minority people.
Thu Ha