BARRIERS TO IMPLEMENT CIRCULAR 16/2009 / BYT ON SCREENING AND HEALTH CARE ASSISTANCES FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN VIETNAM

Abstract

Literature review of reports on the implementation of Circular 16/2009/MOH to support victims of domestic violence and health facilities with the goal of understanding the status and barriers to access of victims personnel and the difficulty of the health system in supporting victims of domestic violence. The study reviewed 55 secondary documents including reports, studies done to date on circular 16/2009 on supporting victims of domestic violence in the health facilities in 2014. The results showed that the number of health facilities initially implement statistic report and the number of victims seeking health services is still very modest. A number of barriers include cultural factors (shy, hesitant to declare) , financial difficulties , lacking of skills and understanding of the health workers, lacking of private consulting rooms and a number of other factors. Recommendations are to strengthen community awareness about domestic violence and to promote the training of health workers at primary care level in screening, caring and treating as well as educating victims of domestic violence. Besides, strengthening collaboration with stakeholders such as women's groups, government authorities is recommended in order to support effectively for victims of domestic violence.