HÀ NỘI — An essential services package for women and girls subjected to violence was launched on Wednesday by the United Nations in Việt Nam and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

The essential services package forms part of the United Nations Joint Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls Subjected to Violence. This programme is a partnership between the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), United Nations Population Fund, World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and aims to provide greater access to a coordinated set of essential and quality multi-sectoral services for all women and girls who have experienced gender-based violence.

The programme identifies the essential services to be provided by the health, social services, police and justice sectors, as well as guidelines for the co-ordination of essential services and the governance of coordination processes and mechanism.

Violence against women and girls is widespread, systemic and culturally entrenched. According to a 2013 global review by WHO, 35 per cent of women worldwide have experienced physical and/or intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence. It is estimated that one in five girls has been abused in childhood with estimates from some countries as high as one in three.

In Việt Nam, the National Study on Domestic Violence against Women, released by the General Statistics Office and the United Nations in Việt Nam in 2010, showed that 58 per cent of ever-married women had experienced at least one form of violence – physical, mental or sexual – at some point in their lives. Some 50 per cent of victims did not tell anyone about the violence they endured and 87 per cent did not seek help from public services.

Speaking at the launch workshop, Elisa Fernandez, UN Women’s head of office in Việt Nam stated, “Violence against women and girls is not inevitable. The good news is that there are many ways to prevent violence in the first place and to stop cycles of violence repeating.”

“The provision, coordination and governance of essential health, police, justice and social services can significantly mitigate the consequences that violence has on the wellbeing, health and safety of women and girls’ lives,” she said.

“The guidelines will help to ensure that the range of services across different sectors can provide the necessary level of support and response to everyone with no exceptions,” she added. — VNS