VIET NAMVIET NAMA study on drug detention centres in and around Ho Chi Minh City found that corporal punishment, including beatings, forced labour and confinement in “punishment rooms” was common. In 2007, 3.5 percent of detainees in Ho Chi Minh City centres were children, and the study included one centre for youths.
(Human Rights Watch, 2011, The Rehab Archipelago: Forced Labor and Other Abuses in Drug Detention Centers in Southern Vietnam)
A UNICEF report published in 2010 states that 94% of children aged 2-14 experienced violent discipline (physical punishment and/or psychological aggression) in 2005-2006. Nearly two thirds experienced physical punishment, while a smaller percentage (45%) of mothers and caregivers thought that physical punishment was necessary in childrearing, and non-violent discipline was also widely used: experienced by 96% of children. One child in ten experienced severe physical punishment (being hit or slapped on the face, head or ears or being hit over and over with an implement) and 90% experienced psychological aggression (being shouted at, yelled at, screamed at or insulted). Boys were slightly more likely than girls to experience violent discipline: 95% compared to 92%. Children living in households with adults with a higher average level of education were less likely to experience violent discipline than those living with less educated adults. No significant differences in children’s experience of violent discipline were found according to age, household size or engagement in child labour.
(UNICEF, 2010, Child Disciplinary Practices at Home: Evidence from a Range of Low- and Middle-Income Countries, NY: UNICEF)
According to statistics from UNICEF on violence in the family, in 2005-2006 sixty-four per cent of girls and women aged 15-49 thought that a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife under certain circumstances.
(UNICEF, 2009, Progress for Children: A report card on child protection, NY: UNICEF)
Large scale comparative research into the views and experiences of 3,322 children and 1,000 adults in 8 countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific (Cambodia, Fiji, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Mongolia, Philippines, Republic of Korea and Viet Nam) was carried out by Save the Children in 2005. The research in Viet Nam involved 498 children (225 boys, 273 girls) from urban rural and remote areas, and 306 adults (85 men, 219 women). Methods used included research diaries, drawings, body maps, attitude survey, sentence completion, and discussions. Physical punishments mentioned by children in Viet Nam included hitting with implements, punching, kicking, pinching, twisting body parts, throwing objects, and electric shocks. At home, punishment by family members included: arm broken, beaten on the buttocks until raw then a mixture of salt and chilli rubbed on the wounds, beaten with a thick stick, ear twisted until torn and bleeding, electrocution with wires, excess labour, kneeling on the spiky peel of durian fruit, standing naked outside the house, standing under the weight of a buffalo yoke, head repeatedly submerged in water, hanging on a tree and beaten until unconscious, hung on an electricity pole, hung on a wall by the hands, hung upside down from a tree, tied next to an ants’ nest, tied to a bicycle and forced to run alongside it, and being whipped while hanging from a tree. Punishments by teachers at school included: confined under a bed, standing in front of class and being denounced by classmates, hit on forehead by ruler thrown by teacher, hit on head by box of chalks, not being allowed to eat, stripped naked and beaten on the back, and two children being forced to slap each other on their cheeks. Of those who were hit, 50% were hit with an implement (34.8% with sticks etc, 15.2% with a whip, lash or belt), 45.5% were slapped with the hand, and 4.5% kicked. Of those children who mentioned body parts where they were hit, 26% reported being hit on the head and neck, 27% on the limbs, 11% on the back, 13% buttocks, 5% chest, 4% stomach, and 1% genitalia. In the home 81% of children experienced physical punishment, 19% emotional punishment; in school 69% experienced physical punishment and 31% emotional punishment.
(Beazley, H., S. Bessell, et al., 2006, What Children Say: Results of comparative research on the physical and emotional punishment of children in Southeast Asia and Pacific, 2005, Stockholm, Save the Children Sweden)
A major study into child abuse in Vietnam found that physical punishment was very widespread, with 70% of the 178 children and young people (aged 8-25) who participated reporting having been “spanked” on the bottom or hand with a hand during their childhood and over half having been hit with an implement. Participants living in reform schools and social protection centres were more likely to experience physical punishment than those living elsewhere: 80% had been hit with a hand and 75% with an implement. The results of the qualitative element of the research suggested that while many adults thought that physical punishment was acceptable most of the children and young people rejected the use of physical punishment, believing that more humane and effective forms of discipline could be used instead.
(UNICEF Viet Nam, 2006, Child Abuse in Viet Nam: Final Report into the Concept, Nature and Extent of Child Abuse in Viet Nam)
A 2004 situation analysis of institutional and alternative care programmes in Vietnam found that physical punishment took place in institutional alternative care settings. Children with mental disabilities were especially likely to experience physical punishment, as were children previously involved in commercial sex work, living in residential “rehabilitation” facilities in Ho Chi Minh City. In interviews, children said that punishments included beating them, locking them in their rooms, punishing them by making them kneel in front of the caregivers, and forcing them to clean the toilets or animal stables.
(MOLISA, Canadian International Development Agency and UNICEF Viet Nam, 2004, Situation Analysis of Institutional and Alternative Care Programs in Vietnam)