Women get only around 87 percent of the wages men are paid in Vietnam, the United Nations Development Program has said in a report.
The 2010 Asia-Pacific Human Development Report that was released in Hanoi Tuesday also shows that most women, who make up 46.6 percent of the country’s workforce, work in the informal sector which is not covered by social protection.
More than half are unpaid family workers and receive no direct income.
In Vietnam, one in four National Assembly members is a woman, the highest rate in Southeast Asia, but women are not well represented at senior decision-making levels in the Party or administration: only one minister and five of 82 deputy ministers are women.
The study also says that more than one fifth of couples experience domestic violence. But surprisingly, almost two thirds of Vietnamese women believe it is acceptable for men to beat their wives.
“In order for women in Vietnam to have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives, equal access to and control over economic resources, and equal access to legal rights and protection, we need to ensure that all Vietnamese families value their girls equally with boys and invest in their capabilities and wellbeing,” John Hendra, UN Resident Coordinator said.
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Vietnam ranked 71st out of 134 countries on the 2009 World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index; 94th out of 155 countries on the 2007 Gender Development Index; and 62nd out of 109 countries on the 2007 Gender Empowerment Measure.
• Vietnam has seen significant improvement in the enrollment of girls in school. Their rate of participation at primary and secondary levels is almost the same as boys’, and in tertiary education there are more girls than boys. Female literacy rates are close to that of men, at 91.3 percent for women compared to 95.8 percent for men.
However, among the poor, and in certain regions, a gender gap remains with girls less likely to be in school in the poorest 20 percent of all households and among northern mountain ethnic communities.
• Minor studies have shown that parents are less likely to invest in health care for their girls. A 2008 study found that 61 percent of boys compared to 39 percent of girls below five years of age were admitted to three national hospitals in 2006-07.
• Vietnam passed the Law on Gender Equality in 2006 and the Law on Preventing and Combating Domestic Violence in 2007.
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