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Sexual violence against women is a serious violation of women's sexual and reproductive rights. In Vietnam, sexual violence is prevalent, but remains hidden behind silence. There are many reasons why women maintain such silence. Firstly, there is considerable prejudice and stigma reinforced by the mass media regarding survivors of sexual violence. Secondly, many women think that meeting the sexual demands of their husbands or partners are their obligation and responsibility. Hence, they accept the fact and cannot refuse sex even if they do not want to. Thirdly, support services, particularly healthcare, do not provide reliable attention to survivors of sexual violence. This paper examines the current situation of sexual violence, discusses how to break silence on sexual violence, and presents the barriers and opportunities for its control and prevention. It also shares some of the experiences of the Center for Studies and Applied Sciences in Gender, Family, Women and Adolescents (CSAGA) to break the silence on sexual violence through the use of social media, documentary films, and other edutainment forms to attract the attention of the public and policy makers and appeal to them to take action to end it.

Keywords: sexual violence; women's sexual and reproductive rights; breaking silence; women's empowerment; edutainment

Abstract in Vietnamese

B?ol?c tình d?c ðoiv?iph? n? vi ph?m nghiêm trong quy?ns?ckh?e sinh s?n và quy?n an toàn tình d?cc?aph? n?. ? Vi?t Nam, b?ol?c tình d?c khá ph? bi?nnhung v?n ðang bi che d?u trong im l?ng và chua ðu?c quan tâm gi?i quy?t. Có nhi?u nguyên nhân khi?nph? n? gi? im lang và ch?pnh?n khi bi b?ol?c tình d?c. Th? nh?tlàc?ng ð?ng còn nhi?u ðinh ki?nvàk? thi v?iph? n? là n?n nhân c?ab?ol?c tình d?c. Truy?n thông ð?i chúng c?aVi?t Nam ti?pt?cc?ng co các ðinh ki?n này cho nên th?ctr?ng b?ol?c tình d?cv?n ti?pt?c là câu chuy?n ð?ng sau cánh c?ac?am?i gia ðình Vi?t Nam. Th? hai là b?n thân ngu?iph? n? cung cho r?ng ph?cv? và ðáp ?ng nhu c?u tình d?cc?ac?ach?ng hay ngu?i yêu là "trách nhi?m" và "b?nph?n" c?a ngu?iph? n?. Chính vì v?y, ho không kháng c? và ch?pnh?n quan h? tình d?c ngay c? khi ho không mong muon. Ngoài ra, h? thong tr? giúp n?n nhân, ð?cbi?t là các co s?...

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