Empowering Vietnamese Women to Stand Up for Their Rights
Laws protecting women’s rights in Vietnam went on the books in 1945. Today, with a female vice president and several other women holding high-official positions, women in Vietnam have the same rights as their male counterparts on paper. In practice, however, many Vietnamese women do not benefit from the legislation protecting them.
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In 2003 laws granting spouses joint land use rights went on the books. Although the Vietnamese government owns all of the nation’s land, citizens can obtain certificates giving them legal land access. This right is crucial for families seeking to support themselves by farming or for those who wish to use their land access as collateral for a loan. However, many women in Vietnam do not benefit from this law.
“Women generally think that only their husbands are entitled to be named on certificates because they are heads of households,” explained Dinh Thi Nga, a woman from the Da Bac district interviewed by ActionAid. “Therefore, they do not dare to question on it.”
At the same time, local officials do little to inform women of their rights, leaving them vulnerable to being denied land access in the case of divorce or the death of their spouse.
ActionAid is committed to closing this gap between policy and practice because gender equality is key to ending poverty. From income generating workshops that enable women to support their families to human trafficking prevention programs that inform women of the dangers of trafficking, ActionAid serves poor and vulnerable women in Vietnam in several ways.
At the Lihit Lab Company, a Japanese stationary manufacturing company in the Nomura Industrial Park of Hai Phong city, ActionAid partner The Center for Workers' Rights (CWR) works to empower their workers though information sharing. There are around 300 workers at Lihit Lab, all of them female, and almost 30 percent of them under the age of 20. With many workers living away from home for the first time, CWR’s training on labor laws, social insurance, and reproductive health is important.
Ethnic Laotian Lo Thi Trang, 30, from the Lai Chau province, participates in a “Women's Right To Land Access” presentation at Hanoi National University.
CWR helps workers to develop leadership skills.
Bui Thi Thu, 22-years-old, has learned many things from her participation in a CWR volunteer worker group. In addition to receiving life skills training, she developed presentation and managerial skills that have allowed her to take on a leadership position at her job. “My opinions [are] appreciated by the other workers,” she says smiling, “I am very proud of that.”
At an ActionAid event held at Hanoi University in December 2008, ActionAid’s Saroj Dash spoke on land rights access, delivering an empowering message to the young people present.
“It is very important that the government of Vietnam acknowledges the right of land ownership of women,” Saroj said. “But, we need to exercise that law at the grassroots level."
Along with other young women from her community, Lo Li Leng, a young woman from the Lai Chau province, attended a report presentation on land access rights.
While the day’s schedule featured dance performances and celebrity appearances, for Lo, this empowerment message was the most memorable.
“I am very pleased to learn that ActionAid [cares] about women’s right to own land," she said.
Such occasions are just one of many ways ActionAid seeks to inform women of their rights. By empowering women like Lo Li to know and fight for their rights, ActionAid and its partners are working to transform the livers of women in Vietnam.
