White Ribbon Breakfast with men responding to violence against women

The event "White Ribbon Breakfast with men responding to violence against women" brought together 100 participants including ambassadors, government leaders of Viet Nam, bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs, UN and the media. This is part of the 16 Days of Activism Campaign to End Violence Against Women and Girls. Also for the first time in Viet Nam, Australian and Vietnamese police and leaders came together to discuss and share experience on how to respond to VAWG.

According to the National Survey on Domestic Violence in 2010, 34 percent of ever-married women in Viet Nam have been physical abused or sexually violated by their husbands at some point in their lives. 58 percent reported to have experienced at least one form of physical, sexual and emotional violence from someone close at some point in their lives.

In her opening speech, Ms. Shoko Ishikawa, UN Women Country Representative stated that: "In order to effectively respond to violence against women and girls, we need to engage men and boys, especially male leaders to advocate for ending violence against women because most of decision makers in society and in family are men. Men and boys should not be only targeted as perpetrators, but they are also partners and agents of change."

"We need to challenge gender norms because perceptions of what it is to be a real man are strongly linked to violence against women and girls," she claimed.

At the event, Mr. Steve Grant, South Australian Police Commissioner and a White Ribbon Ambassador in Australia shared the experiences and results achieved by South Australian Police (SAPOL) in responding to VAWG. The White Ribbon Campaign in Australia is a national movement engaging men in the fight to end domestic violence against women.

"First and foremost, the police should guarantee the safety of survivors and ensure that perpetrators' are held accountable."

"To respond to violence against women and girls, we need to raise social awareness of the issues, especially among men. The most important element is changing the awareness of male leaders," he added.

About White Ribbon Campaign

Based on the vision that "All women live in safety free from all forms of men's violence," the White Ribbon Campaign originated in Australia in 2003 as part of UNIFEM (now UN Women). Since then, the campaign has positively engaged men as a part of the policy advocacy process to end violence against women and girls. The campaign starts from the International Day of the Elimination of Violence against Women (25 November) until the Human Rights Day (10 December). White Ribbon also signals the start of the 16 Days of Activism to Stop Violence against Women led by United Nations Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon.

On this occasion, Viet Nam Women's Union (VWU) with the support of International organizations will hold a series of activities such as developing video clip on Men committing to response to Violence against women, White Ribbon Day For Women Safety Around, and Photo Competition for university students. VWU has also launched a Facebook page titled "Gia dinh khong bao luc" (Families without violence) to provide the statistics on Domestic Violence in Viet Nam. These statistics are collected from VWU programs in order to deliver more evidence of domestic violence against women.

For further information about the campaign, visit our Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/unwomenvietnam or asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/countries/vietnam

Fanpage: Chiến dịch Truyền Thông Ruy băng trắng – White Ribbon Campaign.

Media Contact:

• Hoang Bich Thao, Communications Officer, UN Women Viet Nam, Tel: +84 4 3850 0376 ; Mob: 012 0514 3996, Email:hoang.thao@unwomen.org
• Nguyen Kim Hong, Center for Women and Development, Tel: +84 4 37286548; Mobile: 0906241188, Email: Kimhongcwd@gmail,com