In the meantime, domestic violence (DV) has been a social issue with many unpredictable complicated developments, even serious cases of life, health, dignity, honour, freedom, and property damage, causing discontent in society. This situation requires further accelerating the task of “Reviewing and perfecting laws related to domestic violence prevention and control”[1] to overcome limitations and inadequacies in DV prevention and control, increase strengthen measures to protect and support people suffering from DV (especially persons with disabilities[2] and disadvantaged groups), strictly handle those who commit acts of DV, thereby contributing to building an equal family, progress, happiness, so that the family is a healthy cell of society in the home of each person.
Responding to this request, on November 14, 2022, the National Assembly passed the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control No. 13/2022/QH15 (Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control 2022), effective from July 1, 2023. This Law includes 56 articles divided into 6 chapters with many amendments and supplements compared to the 2007 Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control (Current Law), especially specific provisions to support and protect effectively, people with domestic violence in disadvantaged groups (including persons with disabilities). Within the scope of this article, we would like to introduce some new points in the provisions of the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control 2022 related to the support and protection of persons with disabilities as follows:
The first thing that has to be addressed is that in the human rights-based approach, legislators have revised and replaced the term "disabled people" (in Clause 3, Article 3 of the current Law) with the term "persons with disabilities” in the Law on Prevention and Control of Domestic Violence 2022. The change in terminology is not only consistent with the term “persons with disabilities” recognized in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Disability (CRPD), Law on Persons with Disabilities 2010 but also shows respect for the dignity of persons with disabilities.
Next, inheriting and developing the current Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control, the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control in 2022 continues to affirm the principle of giving priority to protection for groups of people who are considered vulnerable (including persons with disabilities) from domestic violence. However, different from the general recognition of the current Law, the new Law has amended and supplemented a series of specific regulations to ensure the principle of priority to support and protect vulnerable people with domestic violence, especially for persons with disabilities. Some of the following provisions make this clear:
First, in terms of domestic violence, overcoming the limitations of the current Law on inadequate regulation of domestic violence, does not fully reflect the present and current practices, leading to a different understanding of domestic violence as well as a lack of consistency in implementing domestic violence prevention and control measures in localities [3], Clause 1 of Article 3 of the Law on Prevention and Control of Domestic Violence in 2022 has expanded domestic violence acts from 09 groups of behaviour to 16 groups. In particular, the new Law has added several domestic violence acts in which it is not uncommon for persons with disabilities to be victims of their family members such as Stigma, discrimination in terms of body shape, sex, gender, family members’ capacity; Forced pregnancy, abortion, fetal sex selection...[4] And especially, the act of neglecting, not nurturing, or not taking care of a family member who is a person with a disability which is classified in the group of acts of “torture and abuse of family members” sanctioned under Decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of domestic violence prevention and control (Decree 167/2013/NĐ-CP was replaced by Decree 144/2021/NĐ-CP) now supplemented and recorded directly at Point d, Clause 1, Article 3 of the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control in 2022. The addition of this provision is intended to strengthen the legal effect for the prevention, combat, precluding and handling of violations of the responsibility to raise and take care of family members who are persons with disabilities, which are quite common in practice. and is also consistent with the view of the Law on Persons with Disabilities 2010 on prohibited acts in the performance of this responsibility.
Secondly, to thoroughly grasp the principle of proactive domestic violence prevention and to overcome the limitations of the current Law in information, communication, education, and counselling on domestic violence prevention and control to persons with disabilities and target groups. In addition, the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control of 2022 requires that information, communication and education on domestic violence prevention and control must focus on persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. Similarly, counselling on domestic violence prevention and control focuses on several subjects, including persons with disabilities (point b, clause 2, Article 13, point c, clause 2, Article 16). These new macro-level regulations of the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control in 2022 are of great significance and serve as the basis for the Government and relevant ministries and sectors to prescribe specific guarantee conditions in terms of form and method, means, media materials, information, education, communication and counselling appropriate to each type of disability who is a person suffering from domestic violence (mainly classified by disability types such as persons with vision disabilities, persons with hearing and speech disabilities,...).
Third, to strengthen the protection of people suffering from domestic violence, especially vulnerable groups (including persons with disabilities), the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control 2022 has added some measures to protect, support and handle violations in the new domestic violence prevention and control as well as amending and supplementing provisions related to measures inherited from the current Law. Specifically:
Regarding the reporting and handling of domestic violence reports and denunciations: Compared with Article 18 of the current Law, Article 19 of the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control in 2022 has expanded the addresses of receiving information and denunciations about domestic violence, especially adding the "National Telephone Exchange for Domestic Violence Prevention and Control" (and assigning the Government to regulate this switchboard), creating more channels for people living with domestic violence to seek support. Additionally, the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control 2022 specifically designates the commune and town (commune police) as the entity in charge of handling reports and denunciations regarding acts of domestic violence involving persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, and grants the commune police chief the authority to ask the perpetrator to report the incident to the commune police office where it occurred. This regulation aims to promote the resources of this force in checking and verifying preliminary information and creating conditions for timely settlement of cases right from the first stage, solving cases at the facility, ensuring the timeliness, speed and effectiveness in preventing acts of domestic violence and ensuring the safety of people suffering from DV [5].
As for measures to prevent DV and protect, support for people affected by DV also has many modifications and additions. An example of a non-contact measure - a measure deemed essential for the safety of people suffering from domestic violence (especially persons with disabilities and other vulnerable) is recognized in Articles 20, and Article 21 of the current Law. However, the practice in VietNam in the past has shown that the measure's lack of feasibility has not protected the victims of domestic violence. Because, in practice, when contact is prohibited, domestic violence victims are typically those who are forced to leave their homes, although domestic violence victims are frequently vulnerable (women, children, persons with disabilities, elderly people). In the case of women (women with disabilities), when applying a ban on contact, people suffering from domestic violence often carry an immature child with them [6]. Meanwhile, persons who conduct domestic violence are normally at home, and the fact that victims of domestic violence are not present may even be the perpetrators' intention, so they may not care at all. Not only that, DV sufferers who are women (including women with disabilities) when leaving the house are also at high risk of social violence. To overcome these limitations and to achieve the purpose of protecting the safety of DV sufferers through the application of the no-contact measure, the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control 2022 stipulates that DV sufferers have the right to choose accommodation in the time of contact prohibited according to the decision of the Chairman of the commune-level People's Committee (Clause 5, Article 25). In addition, to create initiatives for competent authorities to protect people experiencing domestic violence, especially persons with disabilities who are other vulnerable groups, in case of necessity, the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control In 2022, also empowers the Chairman of the commune-level People's Committee and the People's Court to issue a decision to ban contact on their own when there are grounds to find that domestic violence acts threaten the life of the person experiencing domestic violence (Clause 1, Article 25, Clause 2, Article 26). These regulations, if implemented in practice, will contribute to protecting the safety of people suffering from domestic violence, especially persons with disabilities – those who are weak, vulnerable and bear the heavy consequences of domestic violence. domestic violence behaviour.
The following are some new provisions of the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control 2022 that pertain to people with disabilities. Of course, the legal provisions' accuracy must be checked by practical application. However, shortly, it is undeniable that the new law that directly regulates domestic violence prevention and control has made remarkable progress, overcomes the shortcomings of the current Law, and meets the requirements of increased support, protecting people suffering from domestic violence, particularly the vulnerable./.
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[1] Point a, Clause 1, Section II of the National Program on domestic violence prevention and control in the new situation up to 2025, promulgated together with the Prime Minister's Decision No. 45/QD-TTg dated January 13, 2022 The Government approved the National Program on domestic violence prevention and control in the new situation until 2025.
[2] According to the results of the National Survey on Violence Against Women in Vietnam in 2019 (made by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in collaboration with the General Statistics Office): One-third of women with disabilities are disabled. (33.0%) experienced physical violence by a husband/partner compared to a quarter (25.3%) of women without a disability; 6.4% of women with disabilities were sexually abused as children (before the age of 15), higher than all women in general (4.4%).
[3] Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (2020), Report on 10 years of implementation of the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control, Hanoi, p.22.
[4] According to representatives of some Associations of People with Disabilities, the Club of Women with Disabilities at the Seminar on June 8, 2021, chaired by ACDC, related to the current situation of domestic violence prevention and control for people with disabilities. disability and propose amendments and supplements to the 2007 Law on Prevention and Control of Domestic Violence.
[5] Article "The role of commune police in handling domestic violence cases", Family website, http://giadinh.bvhttdl.gov.vn/vai-tro-cua-cong-an-cap-xa-trong-xu-ly-vu-viec-bao-luc-gia-dinh/, updated on October 2, 2021.
[6] Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (2020), Draft Policy Impact Assessment Report Proposing the development of a Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control (amended), Hanoi, p.9.
