Divorce shakes traditional Vietnamese family structures<\/p>\n
By Le Thang Long<\/p>\n
HANOI (AFP): Divorce is becoming more common in Vietnam, where
\ntraditional family values and structures are being eroded with
\nthe advent of new lifestyles born of the country's economic
\nopening.<\/p>\n
In Hanoi, a bastion of conservatism, the number of requests
\nfor divorces topped 2,500 in 1992 and 3,000 last year, according
\nto statistics provided by courts in the capital.<\/p>\n
Nationwide, requests exceed 10,000 each year.<\/p>\n
In a sign of the times, women filed three quarters of all
\ndivorce applications, at least in the cities, according to a
\nrecent investigation. Courts granted more than 90 percent of
\ndivorce petitions.<\/p>\n
\"Women are becoming more and more autonomous within the
\nfamily, as in society,\" said Nguyen Phuong Minh, vice president
\nof the official Union of Women.<\/p>\n
Women's increased independence, which has spread to both city
\nand countryside, is most visible among those between 30 and 50
\nyears old in this nation of 72 million people. This is the
\ngeneration that was reared during the dark years of war. The
\ntrend is especially evident within the two extremes of the social
\nscale.<\/p>\n
Couples now usually cite \"reasons of convenience\" for
\ndifferences leading to separation: social milieu, salary, age,
\ntastes, and lifestyle. In the past, they were more likely to
\nargue that reasons of war or an arranged marriage warranted
\ndivorce.<\/p>\n
Women are less willing to tolerate adultery, conjugal violence
\nand other \"social plagues,\" such as drug addiction and gambling,
\nsay sociologists.<\/p>\n
Each year, more Vietnamese women -- now numbering in the
\nhundreds -- marry foreigners. Some apparently aim to gain a
\npassport to a better life in the West or elsewhere in Asia.<\/p>\n
\"I hate men who are rude and brutal,\" testified a young bride
\nin Hanoi. She said she discovered her husband had cheated on her
\nafter three months of marriage. \"They are all like that,\" she
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Divorce rate<\/p>\n
The women's weekly Phu Nu Vietnam attributed the rising
\ndivorce rate to the unwelcome influence of Western culture that
\nwas entering the country through the import of books and
\nvideocassettes that \"display sexual freedom and exalt
\nmaterialistic values.\"<\/p>\n
Many Vietnamese have joined a frenzied plunge into the
\npleasures of money and consumerism since the country began
\nexperimenting with market-oriented reforms in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
The social costs of the breakdown of the family have been
\nheavy in impoverished Vietnam: 300,000 orphans and 50,000 minors
\non the streets, often abandoned at the time of separation,
\naccording to the Foundation for Assistance to Children.<\/p>\n
Divorced fathers are reticent to provide care for their
\nchildren or financial assistance to their estranged wives.<\/p>\n
The wheels of justice are powerless to force divorced fathers
\nto make the payments, in spite of regular calls made by the
\nCommittee for the Protection of Mothers and Children \"to
\nreeducate irresponsible fathers.\"<\/p>\n
Thousands of women who flee their homes have no other choice
\nthan to become prostitutes to feed their children. In response to
\nthe rise in divorces, the Union of Women, which claims 11 million
\nmembers, has formed reconciliation groups in cities and villages.<\/p>\n
Slightly more than half of divorcees are remarried, said the
\nunion. A spokeswoman added that the group deplored Vietnam's
\n\"longstanding feudal spirit\" and a resulting society where \"men
\nare respected and women are scorned.\"<\/p>\n
\"I prefer to live alone with my child rather than flinging
\nmyself into another marriage,\" said 35-year-old teacher Do Huyen
\nLinh. Abandoned two years ago, she said bitterly that \"it is
\nreally difficult to find a good husband in this base world.\"<\/p>",
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