When the trend of domestic violence reverses between husband and wife

I was quite impressed with the figures reflecting domestic violence victims presented at the 7th Session of the 15th National Assembly. Accordingly, in 2023, the whole country had 3,193 victims of domestic violence, including 2,628 women and 565 men. Compared to 2022, the number of cases and victims of domestic violence both decreased, however, the rate of male victims of domestic violence showed signs of increasing compared to the previous year.

The reality is that domestic violence is still painful, even signaling the breakdown of a marriage, the disintegration of a family. But I am impressed by the somewhat bright change in this dark area. That is, both the number of cases and the number of victims of domestic violence have decreased and especially the rate of women being abused has also decreased, instead, the rate of men being abused has shown signs of increasing. Violence, regardless of which side it comes from, is condemnable. But the above figures also show that gender equality is getting closer in every family and women are not easily bullied, they are getting stronger every day.

It is sad that until now we still have to talk a lot about gender equality, about equality between men and women in marriage. Because since 2006, the National Assembly has passed the Law on Gender Equality with many progressive contents, equality between men and women. The law also clearly stipulates gender equality in the family such as: Husband and wife are equal to each other in civil relations and other relations related to marriage and family; male and female members in the family have the responsibility to share household chores; husband and wife are equal to each other in discussing, deciding to choose and use appropriate family planning measures; husband and wife have equal rights and obligations in owning common property, equality in using the common income of the couple and deciding on family resources...

The main reason is probably that from ancient times until now, in the subconscious of many people, especially according to the concept of Eastern people, women are associated with the virtue of diligence and sacrifice. Some people even believe that sacrifice is an inseparable aspect of women. With the concept that "men build houses, women build homes", women's sacrifice is for the family, for the husband, for the children, to make the family happy and peaceful.

Because of this way of thinking, many women have fallen into tragedy, binding their lives in physical and mental pain when being abused by their husbands. They do not dare to stand up to protect themselves for fear of the breakdown of their marriage and the impact on their children.

My friend told me that when she became a daughter-in-law, many people in her family advised her to live like her mother-in-law - a person who always knew how to be patient and sacrifice everything for her children. Thanks to her sacrifice, the family is as complete as it is today. After living together for a long time, she understood her mother-in-law's sacrifice. Her father-in-law is an alcoholic. Whenever he drinks too much, he will "beat" his wife. Once, he even burned all her clothes and kicked her out of the house. For decades, her mother-in-law's life has been stuck in that dark circle, but she has never dared to resist. She always kept in mind that she must keep the family intact for her children at all costs.

I ask you, if your husband had a temper like your father-in-law, would you be able to stand it, would you accept the sacrifices like your mother-in-law? My friend said she would definitely leave him, she couldn't live a life like that.

With the story of my friend's family mentioned above, there are certainly still many conflicting opinions at this time. Personally, I support you. Your decision is the growing strength of today's women. It also shows that equality is necessary in modern society, women and men must work together to build family happiness.