Sexual harassment is a serious offence in Vietnam

[ASEAN NOW News]

An anti-sexual harassment draft code for workplaces says winking and certain finger gestures could be construed as non-verbal harassment at the workplace.

 

 

According to VN Express recently, the Code of Conduct, drawn up by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, defines sexual harassment as any behavior that is sexual in nature and unwanted by the receiver.

 

It is an update of a code drawn up in 2015.

 

In March 2019, Vietnamese were outraged after a man was fined only US$8 for forcibly kissing a woman in an elevator which was caught on CCTV footage.

 

Like any other country in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is no stranger to stories of sexual assault of women and children. 

 

Nevertheless, the ASEAN member state has seen remarkable progress on women’s rights and leadership in some areas, notably on access to education and maternal health and in strengthening the legal and institutional framework for gender equality, as noted in a local media report. 

 

However, even with significant efforts by governments and organisations – not a single country in the world can claim to have achieved gender equality. Discrimination and violence against women and children are still prevalent everywhere across the globe.

 

Workplace

 

file photo

 

Vietnam is a global manufacturing hub that conducts international trade. Unfortunately, it was reported that female factory workers in the country face systemic sexual harassment and violence at work.

 

The International Labour Organization (ILO) said that official figures on sexual harassment at the workplace in Vietnam are not readily available.

 

But according to a 2019 study by the Fair Wear Foundation, an independent organisation that works to improve labour conditions in garment factories and Care International, a Vietnam-based rights group – nearly half of the 763 women interviewed in factories in three Vietnamese provinces said that they had experienced at least one form of harassment and/or violence.

 

“I am shocked that nearly 50 percent of the women interviewed had experienced some form of violence in the past year, and I’ve been working on this issue for 30 years,” said Dr Jane Pillinger, a gender-based violence expert and author of the study.

 

“There’s a significant culture of silence around this, and as a result the numbers are probably even higher: we know from feedback that some women wouldn’t answer the questions in the interviews, perhaps because they feared their responses would somehow get back to their employers or husbands,” she added.

 

New Labour Code

 

Last November, Vietnam amended its Labour Code (LC) and added a number of positive provisions including a definition of sexual harassment.

 

The new Labour Code defines sexual harassment in the workplace for the very first time in the country’s labour legislation.

 

Other important revisions include the removal of a ban on women in some types of jobs and ensuring equal rights to reproductive health care and child-rearing, among others.

 

A recent press release published in the UN Women website titled, ‘Vietnam Now Needs to Walk the Talk on Sexual Harassment’ notes that careful attention should be focused on the development of the implementing Decrees, which will set out how the Labour Code will be applied in practice once it enters into force in 2021.

 

Physical acts include touching and suggestions that could lead to sexual attacks.

 

Verbal acts include speech of sexual nature, in person, on the phone or through other digital media, inappropriate social and cultural comments, inappropriate language about one's clothes and body, and frequent requests for private meetups.

 

Non-verbal acts include gestures like winking, blinking, certain finger movements, showing pornographic materials, and sending images and objects of sexual nature.

 

Normal encouragement and compliments and consensual sexual acts (between adults) are not considered sexual harassment. They can still be punished if they violate company regulations.

 

Sexual harassment in the workplace can take place in many forms, including suggestions, threats, coercion into performing sexual acts for favors, or simply making the work environment uncomfortable.

 

The Code of Conduct however is not a legally binding document, and authorities have urged businesses to adopt it as their code of conduct to foster a healthy work environment.

 

There are no comprehensive statistics on sexual harassment.

 

However, a study on gender equality in the workplace conducted by the International Labor Organization and Navigos Search in Vietnam in 2015 found that 17 percent of respondents, all mid-level employees, saying they or someone they knew had "received sexual requests from higher-ups in exchange for various favors."

 

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[Rhys]

all the best