HCM City (VNA) - The White Ribbon Breakfast was held in Ho Chi MinhCity on November 24 to encourage the participation of men and the community asa whole in preventing violence and sexual harassment against women andchildren, particularly in the context of COVID-19.

The breakfast was co-organised by the Department of Labour, Invalids and SocialAffairs and the Department of Tourism of HCM City, UN Women, and the UN Officeon Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in response to the UN’s 16 Days of Activism againstGender-Based Violence campaign and Vietnam’s action month for gender equalityand the prevention of gender-based violence.

Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee of HCM City’s District 1 MaiThi Hong Hoa called for greater engagement on the part of men to carry outmeasures ending gender-based violence, and affirmed that ensuring the safety ofwomen and girls is important in building an equal and civilised society.

She said that images of doctors, armed forces, flight crews, volunteers, and serviceproviders on the frontline in the fight against COVID-19 are valuable for communicationscampaigns, since they show both men and women providing a safe and friendlycity for women and children.

Meanwhile, Elisa Fernandez Saenz, Country Representative of UN Women inVietnam, stressed that men are the important agent for ending violence againstwomen and girls.

She suggested communications campaigns focus on changing deep-rooted genderprejudice by encouraging men to help women with the housework and child care andto develop a respectful and non-violent relationship with women.

Similarly, Nguyen Nguyet Minh, Officer-in-Charge at UNODC, also emphasised therole of men, particularly those working in law enforcement and judicialagencies, in ensuring safety and justice for victims of violence.

She said that UNODC stands ready to support HCM City in developing solutionsand initiatives to end violence against women and girls.

According to a national survey conducted by the Ministry of Labour, Invalidsand Social Affairs, the General Statistics Office, and the UN Population Fund,63 percent of married Vietnamese women have experienced one or more forms ofphysical, sexual, emotional, or economic violence and controlling behaviour bytheir husbands.

UN Women said that violence against women and girls in the world has spiked by 30-300percent since the outbreak of COVID-19.

Most victims of domestic violence do not report it to authorities, since theybelieve help will not be forthcoming.
Based on a vision that “All women live in safety free from all forms ofmen’s violence”, the White Ribbon Campaign originated in Australia in 2003 aspart of UNIFEM (now UN Women). Since then, the campaign has positively engagedmen as part of the policy advocacy process to end violence against women andgirls. The campaign starts from the International Day of the Elimination ofViolence against Women (November 25) and finishes on Human Rights Day (December10)./.