Bui Thi Thanh Mai, MD, MSc¹, Pham Vu Thien, MD, MSc¹, Sidney Schuler, PhD², Nancy Luke, PhD³, Tran Hung Minh, MD, MSc¹, Hoang Tu Anh, MD, MSc¹, and Vu Song Ha, MD, MPH¹. (1) Consultation of Investment in Health Promotion (CIHP), 108 A12 Alley 4/15 Phuong Mai Street, Hanoi, Vietnam, 84 4 5770261, mai@cihp.org, (2) Center for Applied Behavioral and Evaluation Research, Empowerment of Women Research Program, Academy for Educational Development, 1825 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20009, (3) Center for Population and Development Studies, School of Public Health, Harvard University, 9 Bow Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Since the 1980s, Viet Nam has paid greater attention to gender equity, as demonstrated by its ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its creation of legal institutions and laws to protect women's rights. At the societal level, however, there are indications that social dynamics have not kept pace with national shifts toward gender equity. Responses to a survey of 465 married couples aged 18 to 35 living along the coastal area of central Viet Nam, and in-depth interviews with 35 of those couples surveyed, show that in the case of domestic violence, most women silently endure their experiences and are reluctant to seek assistance from local institutions that exist for this purpose.

Community and individual perceptions of marriage and gender may account for this situation. Traditional norms dictate that "women must endure," and always "show a nice face to the family," which likely contributes to women's silence about domestic violence and a societal preference for ignoring the problem. Even when local mechanisms exist to intervene in domestic violence cases, the parties involved place a greater priority on resolving the marriage dispute and bringing the couple back together, rather than addressing the violence that has occurred. The presentation will discuss findings related to these and other issues surrounding the pervasive silence about domestic violence in Viet Nam. Domestic violence prevention and intervention programs that address these underlying issues may have a greater impact as a result.

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