Blue Heart 2022

Commitment to End Violence, Protect Children and Women

With the strong message that there is zero tolerance towards violence against children and women – the United Nations in Viet Nam along with the Government of Viet Nam and the Australian Government today launched the Blue Heart 2022 awareness campaign towards ending violence in the context of exacerbated risks and diversifying forms of violence. This initiative builds on the 2020 campaign that aimed to raise public awareness and change individual and social behaviours to help stop violence before it begins.

This 2022 campaign urgently calls for public attention and support to generate violence-free environments – in the home, at school, in the community and online. This can only happen when there are amplified voices speaking up and out against all forms of violence and its impacts – violent discipline, mental health, online safety, sexual abuse and gender-based violence, among others. These unified voices must come from individuals, parents, family members, children and adolescents, teachers, neighbours, community leaders, policy-makers and influencers – strong enough to drive a momentum shift in how Viet Nam faces up to violence that cuts through all layers of society.

Globally, one billion children suffer some form of violence every year. The Viet Nam Sustainable Development Goal indicators on Children and Women Survey 2020-2021 indicated that more than 72 per cent of children aged 10-14 years experienced violent discipline. Emotional abuse was reported by 39 per cent of such children, along with physical abuse (47 per cent), sexual abuse (20 per cent) and neglect (29 per cent). Another study showed that 21.4 per cent of adolescent girls and 7.9 per cent of adolescent boys reported having had suicidal thoughts, while another study revealed that 5.8 per cent of adolescents reported having attempted suicide.

According to the UNFPA-supported 2019 National Study on Violence against Women in Viet Nam, 62.9 percent of women in Viet Nam experienced one or more forms of physical, sexual, emotional and economic violence, and controlling behaviours by their husband in their life time. Violence is hidden in Viet Nam’s society, as 90.4 per cent of survivors of violence did not seek any help from authorities and half of them never told anyone about the violence. Furthermore, violence against women is costing the country 1.81% of GDP.

The launch, held at the historical Culture and Arts Center at 22 Hang Buom in Ha Noi, covers an array of activities including an interactive exhibition open to the public that helps explore the psychosocial aspects of violence and ways to address it. Advocacy champions such as Miss Universe 2017 H’ Hen Nie, singers Hoang Bach and Duy Khoa as well as MC Trang Moon are returning to lend their star power to the campaign and are joined by new and influential voices from the band Da LAB and young songstress My Anh to mobilize men and boys in standing on the frontline against violence and Vietnamese young people to join forces to realize generational change.