A recent survey has found that 68 percent of children between the ages of one and 14 had been on the receiving end of violence at the hands of their parents and relatives.

Nguyen Thi Nga, deputy director of the Child Affairs Department, answers
questions about child protection at the dialogue. (Photo courtesy of the MSD)
 

The results were released at a dialogue organised by the Management and Sustainable Development Institute (MSD) on December 13 in Hanoi, with more than 150 participants.

The event called for co-operation among organisations to eliminate physical and psychological abuse against children.

The national children protection hotline 111 has received three million calls for help in the past 14 years.

Ninh Thi Hong, permanent deputy chairwoman of the Vietnam Association for the Protection of Children’s Rights, said all violence had serious consequences on child development.

Many reasons led to the problem, she said.

Many Vietnamese parents believe in the mantra “spare the rod and spoil the child”.

Adults also have too many expectations for the children, and turn to violence when they are not lived up to.

Speaking at the dialogue, Le Tran Kim Linh, a girl from HCM City, said: “Teachers and parents often do not understand or believe in children.”

Linh and other children at the dialogue believed that children do not develop with violence, plus physical and psychological abuse against children is illegal.

“Please talk to us to help us solve our problems and educate children with love,” said Linh.

Nguyen Thi Nga, deputy director of the Child Affairs Department under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said she was really impressed with the children’s messages.

“Listening to children and understanding them is important,” she said.

All the messages delivered by the children’s would be used by lawmakers to set up child support programmes, she said.

Nguyen Phuong Linh, MSD director, said, “We should use positivity to educate our children so they are loved by their families and teachers.”

“With love, children become self-confident and develop comprehensively,” she said.