Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope

This Law provides for the prevention, protection, support, and handling of violations against regulations on prevention and combat against domestic violence; conditions for ensuring prevention and combat against domestic violence; state management and responsibilities of agencies, organizations, families, and individuals in preventing and combating domestic violence.

Article 2. Interpretation of terms

For the purpose of this Law, the following terms shall be construed as follows:

1. Domestic violence means an intentional act of a family member causing or potentially causing physical, mental, sexual, or economic harm to other family members. 

2. Protective order is a solution that prohibits the perpetrator from coming close to his/her victim or from using means or tools to commit domestic violence acts.

3. Shelter is a location to ensure the safety of domestic violence victims.

4. Domestic violence education and control is a process for providing knowledge of and training in skills in behaving, controlling negative emotions and behaviors, or conflict solutions for perpetrators to terminate domestic violence acts.

Article 3. Domestic violence acts

1. Domestic violence acts include:

a) Torturing, ill-treating, beating, and threatening or acts of intentionally violating the health and lives of others;

b) Insulting, nagging, or other acts of intentionally insulting the honor and dignity of others;

c) Forcing people or animals to witness violence to put constant psychological pressure;

d) Ignoring, deserting, not nurturing, or taking care of family members who are children, pregnant women, women who are raising children under 36 months old, the elderly, disabled people, or people who are unable to take care of themselves; not educating family members who are children;

dd) Discriminating against family members’ body, gender, sexuality, and capability;

e) Preventing family members from meeting their family members, having legal, healthy social relationships, or committing acts of isolating and putting constant psychological pressure;

g) Preventing the performance of rights and obligations in the family relations between grandparents and grandchildren; between father, mother, and child; between husband and wife; between brothers and sisters;

h) Disclosing or spreading information on personal life, secrets, and family secrets of other family members to insult their honor and dignity;

i) Forcing sexual intercourse against the will of the wife or husband;

k) Forcing performance of erotic acts; forcing other family members to listen to, view, and read pornographic audio, images, and contents, inciting violence;

l) Imposing forced child marriage, marriage, and divorce or preventing marriage or divorce illegally;

m) Forcing pregnancy, abortion, and fetal sex selection;  

n) Appropriating or vandalizing the general property of the family or personal property of other family members; 

o) Forcing family members to overwork, over-study, or make financial contributions more than they can afford; controlling property and income of family members to create a state of physical, mental dependence, or other aspects;

p) Isolating or holding family members in custody;

q) Forcing family members to leave their legal residence illegally.

2. The acts prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article performed between divorced people; people who live together like husband and wife; people who are parents, stepchildren, brothers, or sisters of the divorced people or people who live together like husband and wife; people who have had a relationship of adoptive parents and adopted children with each other are also identified as domestic violence according to the Government of Vietnam.

Article 4. Principle of prevention and combat against domestic violence

1. Make prevention the main focus, taking the domestic violence victim as the center.

2. Respect and protect legal rights and benefits of relevant people; ensure the best benefits of children; prioritize the protection of legal rights and benefits of domestic violence victims who are pregnant women, women who are raising children under 36 months old, the elderly, disabled people, and people who are unable to take care of themselves; perform gender equality.

3. Focus on activities of disseminating, educating, counseling, and mediating in preventing and combating domestic violence.

4. Promptly detect and prevent and strictly handle violations against laws on prevention and combat against domestic violence as prescribed by law. If the domestic violence victims are children, during the handling process, there must be the participation of the representatives of state management agencies of children or people who are assigned to protect children.

5. Increase the responsibilities of agencies, organizations, and heads; focus on inter-sectoral cooperation in preventing and combating domestic violence.  

6. Promote the role and responsibilities of individuals, families, and communities.  

7. Perform the responsibility to set an example in preventing and combating domestic violence regarding officials, public employees, and people of the people’s armed forces.

Article 5. Prohibited acts in preventing and combating domestic violence  

1. Domestic violence acts prescribed in Article 3 of this Law.

2. Inciting, enticing, seducing, assisting, or forcing others to commit domestic violence acts. 

3. Using and disseminating information, documents, images, and audio to incite domestic violence.

4. Revenging or threatening vengeance on people who help domestic violence victims and people who detect, notify, denounce, and prevent domestic violence acts.

5. Obstructing the detection, notification, denunciation, prevention, and handling of domestic violence acts.

6. Taking advantage of the prevention and combat against domestic violence to commit illegal acts.

7. Tolerating, covering up, and failing to handle domestic violence acts in contravention of the law.

Article 6. Policies of the State on prevention and combat against domestic violence

1. The State shall allocate the budget for the effective implementation of the prevention and combat against domestic violence, prioritizing ethnic minority areas, mountainous areas, and areas with extremely difficult socio-economic conditions.

2. Encourage agencies, organizations, and individuals to provide aid, sponsorship, gifts, contributions, support, and investment in funds, personnel, physical facilities, and necessities for the prevention and combat against domestic violence; perform international cooperation in preventing and combating domestic violence; develop counseling models to build a happy family, prevent domestic violence, and support domestic violence victims; develop a network of population collaborators engaging in the prevention and combat against domestic violence in the community.

3. Encourage literary and artistic creation on domestic violence prevention and combat; apply science and information technology to the prevention and combat against domestic violence.  

4. Praise and commend agencies, organizations, and individuals with achievements in the prevention and combat against domestic violence; issue supporting regulations on compensating for health, life, and property damage for individuals participating in the prevention and combat against domestic violence.

5. Support the advanced training in improving the capability of people who engage in domestic violence prevention and combat.

Article 7. National Action Month for domestic violence prevention and combat

1. The National Action Month for domestic violence prevention and combat is organized in June every year to promote the prevention and combat against domestic violence and honor family values.  

2. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam shall take charge and cooperate with relevant agencies and organizations in directing, guiding, and organizing the implementation of the National Action Month for domestic violence prevention and combat.

Article 8. International cooperation in domestic violence prevention and combat

1. International cooperation in domestic violence prevention and combat is performed based on the principle of equality and respect for independence and sovereignty following the law of Vietnam and international laws.

2. Contents of international cooperation in domestic violence prevention and combat include:

a) Participating in international organizations; concluding and performing international treaties and agreements on domestic violence prevention and combat;

b) Developing and performing domestic violence prevention and combat programs, projects, and activities;

c) Sharing information on and experience in domestic violence prevention and combat;

d) Conducting scientific research and providing training for domestic violence prevention and combat personnel.

Article 9. Rights and responsibilities of domestic violence victims

1. Domestic violence victims may:

a) Request competent agencies, organizations, or individuals to protect their health, life, honor, dignity, and legal rights and benefits related to domestic violence acts;

b) Request competent agencies or individuals to apply measures to prevent, protect, and support as prescribed by this Law;

c) Receive allocation of shelters and confidentiality of such shelters and information on personal life, personal secrets, and family secrets according to this Law and other regulations of relevant laws;

d) Receive medical services, psychological counseling, and training in skills in responding to domestic violence, legal aid, and social support as prescribed by law; 

dd) Request perpetrators to remedy consequences and compensate for damage to their health, honor, dignity, and property;

e) Receive information on relevant rights and obligations during the settlement of conflicts and disputes among family members or the handling of domestic violence acts;

g) Complain, denounce, and file a lawsuit against acts that violate domestic violence prevention and combat laws;

h) Other rights according to laws related to domestic violence prevention and combat.

2. Domestic violence victims, guardians, or legal representatives of domestic violence victims shall adequately, accurately, and promptly provide information on domestic violence acts upon requests of competent agencies, organizations, or individuals.

Article 10. Responsibilities of perpetrators

1. Perpetrators shall:

a) Terminate domestic violence acts;

b) Comply with requests and decisions of competent agencies, organizations, and individuals when such entities apply measures to prevent, protect, support, and handle violations against domestic violence prevention and combat laws;

c) Promptly bring domestic violence victims to medical facilities for emergency aid and treatment. Take care of domestic violence victims unless refused by the victims, their guardians, or legal representatives;

d) Compensate for the damage and remedy consequences for domestic violence victims, people who participate in domestic violence prevention and combat, and other organizations and individuals.

2. If the perpetrators are guardians or legal representatives of domestic violence victims, they are forbidden from performing the rights of guardians and legal representatives according to this Law regarding domestic violence cases they performed.

Article 11. Responsibilities of family members in domestic violence prevention and combat

1. Educate and remind other family members to comply with laws on prevention and combat against domestic violence, laws on marriage and family, laws on gender equality, and other relevant laws.

2. Mediate conflicts and disputes among family members; request perpetrators to end their behaviors; participate in taking care of domestic violence victims.

3. Cooperate with agencies, organizations, individuals, and the residential population in preventing and combating domestic violence.

4. Perform domestic violence prevention and combat measures following this Law and other relevant laws.

Article 12. Rights and responsibilities of individuals in domestic violence prevention and combat

1. Receive commendations upon achievements in domestic violence prevention and combat according to emulation and commendation laws; receive protection and confidentiality of personal information when notifying or denouncing domestic violence acts; receive support from the State to compensate for damage to health, life, and property when participating in domestic violence prevention and combat as prescribed by the Government of Vietnam.

2. Upon detecting domestic violence acts, individuals shall:

a) Provide notifications and denunciations of such behaviors for competent agencies, organizations, or individuals as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 19 of this Law;

b) Participate in protecting and supporting domestic violence victims and domestic violence prevention and combat activities in the community.