The Australian government is funding a $7.3 mln program that seeks to help women and children in Vietnam live a life free of violence.

It would be implemented from June 2021 to July 2025, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said in a press release on Monday.

Organizers expect the program to promote laws and policies, increase resource allocation and strengthen coordination to prevent and respond to violence against women and children, in line with national and international standards and commitments.

They hope to see gender and social norm change promoted through communication, awareness raising, advocacy and community mobilization.

A women and her son leave hospital after being treated for Covid-19
in Binh Thuan Province, April 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Viet Quoc.

The program was envisaged after the successful implementation of ‘Supporting Interventions to Eliminate Violence against Women and Children in Vietnam in the Covid-19 Emergency Context,’ between May 2020 and May 2021 also by UNFPA and its partners.

One of its key outcomes was that 832 survivors of violence received direct and full support from trained staff.

Protection services were provided through hotlines run by Anh Duong House, Peace House and CSAGA to more than 13,000 people.

Naomi Kitahara, UNFPA representative in Vietnam, said there is no way for Vietnam to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals without addressing the issue of violence against women and children.

Rana Flowers, UNICEF representative in Vietnam, said violence against women and children was a major societal problem prior to Covid-19, and countries need to understand that it costs them economic growth.

The 2019 National Study on Violence Against Women in Vietnam, which was supported by the Government of Australia and UNFPA, found that nearly two in three married women (almost 63 per cent) experienced one or more forms of physical, sexual, emotional, and economic violence and controlling behaviors by their husbands.

Besides, 4.4 percent of children faced sexual abuse.

The loss of productivity due to violence against women was estimated at 1.81 percent of GDP in 2018.