Does the number 186,954 mean anything to you? That is the number divorce due to domestic violence. This accounted for 53.1% of the causes of divorce in 5 years (2000 - 2005) (according to Wikipedia). Family is cozy nest, safe house and defends us from the stress of life. Family becomes “heaven in our hearts”. Although so, domestic violence still is an issue of global nature and it occurs in many family in Vietnam. And this is reflected Vietnam is a country “rich” domestic violence.
Domestic violence is caused in part by a culture of acceptance and silence. People in some communities accept it as a valid reaction to love and money problems, and do not speak out about it. The 2010 Viet Nam National Study on domestic violence revealed that 58.3 per cent of ever-married women experienced at least one type of domestic violence at some point of their lives (according to UNODC). For them domestic violence is a private matter and they accept this. They don’t want to resolve in the court because women Vietnam always have good endurance and they have a culture of acceptance. A famous Vietnamese literary work, “ A Boat from Afar “, by Nguyen Minh Chau, talks about this issue. It says that the wife always suffer the violence of husband. She understands because short of money, hard life so changed character of her husband and she loves him so she accepts one’s fate. The literary work tell about thought of yore women Vietnam and now. They see it as a valid and it is necessary in life scramble. The 2013 UNODC "Assessment of the situation of women in the criminal justice system in Viet Nam" acknowledged that 58% of women in Viet Nam experience some type of emotional, physical or sexual domestic violence during their lifetime. However, only 13% of abused women sought help from the justice system. So as we can see, this is a big reason for the prevalence of domestic abuse in Vietnam. But what about its effects?”