Vietnam passed an amended law on Monday afternoon to make people who commit acts of domestic violence to perform community labor.

Four hundred and sixty five out of 474 lawmakers of the National Assembly voted to ratify amendments to the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control, equal to 98.1 percent of the total number of deputies.  

The revised law will take effect on July 1, 2023.

One of the new changes from the 2007 version is the addition of measures to protect and support victims and handle cases of domestic violence.

The added measures include forcing domestic abusers to perform community service, such as planting and taking care of trees in public areas, repairing and cleaning local roads and public buildings.

The law also enhances the authority of the chairperson of the commune-level People’s Committee and the court to ban domestic abusers from contacting the victim when there is proof that the act of domestic violence threatens the victim’s life.

It also stipulates the protection for participants in the prevention, combat, and reporting of domestic violence.

Lawmakers also provided a definition of domestic violence, which specifies 16 acts regarded as domestic violence, based on physical, mental, economic, and sexual factors.

In addition, the law lists a number of prohibited acts -- including inciting, instigating, enticing, assisting, and forcing others to commit acts of domestic violence; taking revenge and threatening to take revenge on people who help victims of domestic violence, discover or report the violations.

The law also defines divorced couples; people living together as a married couple; parents, children, and siblings of a former partner or current partner; and people who used to be adoptive parents and adopted children as relationships that can generate domestic violence.

It also underlines the state and relevant ministries’ more responsibilities in allocating resources for domestic violence prevention and control.

Following the ratification, the National Assembly Standing Committee asked the government to widely publicize the revised law so that all people, families, agencies, and organizations fully understand its provisions.

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