Domestic Violence – Identifying Behaviors and Preventive Measures
Domestic violence is a pressing social issue. Members living in abusive households often suffer from inferiority complexes, shame, resignation, and bear both physical and psychological harm. Children growing up in such environments carry emotional scars that persist over time. Insults, humiliation, verbal abuse, and derogatory remarks – though seemingly harmless – cause profound psychological damage. School dropout, children leaving home and drifting aimlessly are among the tragic consequences, as they no longer wish to live in a family where a father brutally beats the mother or where constant bitter reproaches are heard.
In the past, domestic violence was common in rural, mountainous, and remote areas where economic conditions were difficult and awareness was limited. In some cases, it even became a “custom” of the entire village, where almost every household experienced it, and disputes or physical assaults were considered an everyday matter.
In modern society, many people still mistakenly believe that domestic violence only involves physical assault. In reality, domestic violence also hides in the form of psychological abuse – inflicted even by those husbands regarded as “educated” or “civilized.”
The Law on Prevention and Control of Domestic Violence 2022 – A Progressive Step in Preventing, Deterring, and Raising Awareness
Article 3 of the Law defines acts of domestic violence as including:
a) Maltreatment, abuse, beating, threats, or other deliberate acts causing harm to health or life;
b) Insulting, humiliating, or other deliberate acts infringing upon honor and dignity;
c) Forcing family members to witness violence against persons or animals as a means of exerting continuous psychological pressure;
d) Neglecting, failing to care for, raise, or attend to family members who are children, pregnant women, women raising children under 36 months, the elderly, persons with disabilities, or those unable to care for themselves; failure to provide education to child family members;
đ) Stigmatization or discrimination against family members based on appearance, gender, sex, or capacity;
e) Preventing family members from meeting relatives or engaging in lawful, healthy social relations, or other acts aimed at isolation and continuous psychological pressure;
g) Preventing the exercise of rights and obligations in family relations between grandparents and grandchildren; parents and children; spouses; or siblings;
h) Disclosing or disseminating information on the private life, personal secrets, or family secrets of family members in order to infringe upon honor and dignity;
i) Forcing a spouse to engage in unwanted sexual intercourse;
k) Forcing family members to perform pornographic acts; forcing them to listen to sounds, view images, or read content of a pornographic or violent nature;
l) Forcing early marriage, marriage, or divorce, or obstructing lawful marriage or divorce;
m) Forcing pregnancy, abortion, or sex-selective pregnancy;
n) Appropriating or destroying common family property or the separate property of other family members;
o) Forcing family members to study or work beyond their capacity, to contribute financially beyond their means, or controlling their assets and income so as to create material, spiritual, or other forms of dependence;
p) Isolating or unlawfully confining family members;
q) Forcing family members to leave their lawful residence contrary to law.
Important note: Such acts shall also constitute domestic violence if committed between divorced persons; persons cohabiting as husband and wife; the father, mother, stepchildren, or siblings of a divorced person or of a person cohabiting as husband and wife; or between persons formerly in an adoptive parent – adopted child relationship.
Rights of Victims of Domestic Violence
Persons subjected to domestic violence shall have the following rights:
a) To request competent authorities, organizations, or individuals to protect their health, life, honor, dignity, and other lawful rights and interests related to acts of domestic violence;
b) To request competent authorities or individuals to apply preventive, protective, or support measures in accordance with this Law;
c) To be provided with safe shelters, confidentiality regarding the shelter and information concerning their private life, personal secrets, and family secrets, in accordance with this Law and other relevant laws;
d) To be provided with medical services, psychological counseling, and skills to respond to domestic violence, as well as legal and social assistance in accordance with law;
đ) To request perpetrators of domestic violence to remedy consequences and compensate for damage to health, honor, dignity, and property;
e) To receive information concerning rights and obligations in the process of resolving family conflicts, disputes, and handling acts of domestic violence;
g) To lodge complaints, denunciations, or initiate lawsuits concerning violations of the law on prevention and control of domestic violence;
h) To exercise other rights provided by law in relation to the prevention and control of domestic violence.
Preventive and Protective Measures
Measures to prevent acts of domestic violence and to protect and support victims include:
a) Requiring the perpetrator to immediately cease acts of domestic violence;
b) Summoning the perpetrator to the headquarters of the commune-level People’s Police where the act occurred;
c) Prohibiting contact;
d) Arranging safe shelters and providing essential needs;
đ) Providing care and treatment for victims of domestic violence;
e) Providing legal aid and psychological counseling, and skills to respond to domestic violence;
g) Educating and assisting perpetrators to change violent behavior;
h) Community-based criticism and admonishment of perpetrators;
i) Requiring perpetrators to perform community service;
k) Applying preventive measures and measures ensuring the handling of administrative violations under the law on administrative sanctions; applying preventive measures and victim protection measures under the Criminal Procedure Code for perpetrators of domestic violence.
Family members must first be able to identify acts of domestic violence in order to determine whether they are victims, to adopt timely preventive measures, and to jointly combat and eliminate domestic violence, thereby building a healthy, civilized family free from the cries of children.
Domestic violence is not only manifested through the use of physical force by the stronger against the weaker, but also through verbal and other abusive behaviors as described above. The family is the basic cell of society; when conflict and violence exist within it, children grow up with distorted thinking and perceptions, creating conditions that may contribute to increased criminal behavior in society.
It is tragic when children are forced to leave the place once called their “home,” exposed to countless dangers simply because they cannot endure life in a violent family, where “wars” are waged among their own relatives. A single slap in a moment of anger by an adult, combined with youthful impulsiveness, can lead to unforeseeable consequences.
Domestic violence must be eradicated permanently in order to provide a truly safe foundation for children – one that ensures not only physical safety, but also emotional security and peace of mind.
