Reproductive Health Matters
Volume 7, Issue 14 , Pages 71-82 , November 1999

Single women's experiences of sexual relationships and abortion in Hanoi, Vietnam

  • Danièle Bélanger

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationAssistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Center for Population Studies, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C2. Fax: 1-519-661-3200.
    • ,
  • Khuat Thu Hong

References 

  1. Goodkind DM . Abortion in Vietnam: measurements, puzzles and concerns . Studies in Family Planning . 1994;25:342–352
  2. Le TL . Gai moi Ion pha thai — bao dong gan . Tien Phong . 1995;9:
  3. World Health Organization  . In: A strategic assessment of policy, programme and research issues related to abortion in Vietnam. (Dract report) . 1997;
  4. Bélanger D , Khuat TH . Young single women using abortion in Hanoi, Vietnam . Asia Pacific Population Journal . 1998;13:3–26
  5. Durand M . L'oeuvre de la poétesse vietnamienne Ho-Xuan-Huong . Paris: EFEO; 1968;

    The title of the poem in question can be translated as ‘Being pregnant without a husband’. The French translation of this poem and others by this poet can be found in:

  6. Khuat TH . Study on Sexuality in Vietnam: The Known and Unknown Issues . In: South and East Asia Working Papers No. 11 . Hanoi: Population Council; 1998;
  7. Phinney H . Reproductive identity and desire among unmarried women in Northern Vietnam . In: Paper presented at 1998 Annual Meeting of the Association for Asian Studies . Washington DC . 1998; Nguyen HM . Tradition and change in Vietnamese marriage patterns in the Red River Delta . In: Ninth revision. Dissertation . Seattle: University of Washington; 1998;

    Before socialism, an unmarried pregnant woman had ‘her nape shaved and smeared with lime’ and were publicly insulted. Some were even killed, and others committed suicide. The repercussions were also important for the woman's family. In some villages, her parents had to pay a fine and her father could be denied his right to attend meetings in the village communal house. See:

  8. In 1959, the socialist government, who had been in power in North Vietnam since 1954, promulgated the first Law of Marriage of the Family. This law made arranged and forced marriages, as well as polygamy, illegal.

  9. Bélanger D , Khuat TH . Marriage and the family in urban North Vietnam, 1965–1993 . Journal of Population . 1996;2(1):83–112
  10. National Committee for Population and Family Planning  . Reproductive Behaviour of Unmarried Urban Students aged 17–24 in Vietnam . Hanoi: NCPFP; 1995;
  11. Care International/Vietnam, MCHPF Department of the Vietnam Ministry of Health  . An Audience Analysis of Women, Men (Aged 15–25) and Providers Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Contraceptive Methods . Hanoi: Ethical Publishing House; 1997;
  12. Turley WS . Party, state, and people: political structure and economic prospects . In:  Turley S ,  Selden M editor. Reinventing Vietnamese Socialism, Doi Moi in Comparative Perspective . Boulder: Westview Press; 1993;
  13. Bélanger D . Changements de comportements sexuels prénuptiaux au Vietnam . In: Paper presented at 23rd International Population Conference . Beijing, China: IUSSP; 1997; Bélanger D . Changements de comportements sexuels prénuptiaux au Vietnam . In: Paper presented at 23rd International Population Conference . Beijing, China: IUSSP; October 1997;

    This analysis is based on data from the Vietnam Inter Censal Demographic Survey of 1994. Lengths of first birth intervals per birth cohorts were calculated using information on the date (month and year) of marriage and of the first birth. The data were previously checked for coherence and quality.

  14. Vu LM . Fertility behavior in the Vietnam Red River Delta: Birth timing and birth interval dynamics . In: Ninth revision. PhD Thesis . Seattle: University of Washington; 1998;
  15. Gammeltoft T . Women's Bodies, Women's Worries, Health and Family Planning in a Vietnamese Rural Community . Surrey: Curzon; 1999;
  16. Johansson A , Nguyen The Lap , Hoang Thi Hoa , et al.   Population policy, son preference and the use of IUDs in North Vietnam . Reproductive Health Matters . 1998;6(11):66–76
  17. Johansson A , Le Thi LT , Nguyen TL , et al.   Abortion in context: women's experience in two villages in Thai Binh Province, Vietnam . International Family Planning Perspectives . 1996;22(3):103–106
  18. Gammeltoft TS , Nguyen MT . Tinh Yeu Cua Chung Em Khong Gioi Han, Our Love Has No Limits . Hanoi: Nha Xuat Ban Thanh Nien; 1999;
  19. Le MG . Youth reproductive health in Vietnam . Population Council; 1997; (Unpublished report)
  20. Efroymson D . Vietnam faces modern sexuality problems with inadequate knowledge and solutions . SIECUS Report . 1996;24(3):4–6
  21. Efroymson D . Confusion and contradictions: results of qualitative research on youth sexuality . 1997; Personal communication
  22. Henshaw S , et al.   Incidence of abortion worldwide . (Supplement) International Family Planning Perspectives . 1999;25:

    The total abortion rate is the number of abortions that would be experienced by the average woman during her reproductive lifetime, given present age-specific abortion rates. From:

  23. General Statistical Office  . In: Ninth revision. Viet Nam Intercensal Demographic Survey 1994. Major Findings . Hanoi: Statistical Publishing House; 1995;p. 157
  24. Nguyen MT , Nguyen TH . Population programme in VietNam: Highlights from the 1997 Demographic and Health Survey . Asia Pacific Population Journal . 1998;13(3):67–76
  25. Trinh HV , Bishop A , Vuong TH , et al.   The potential impact of introducing pregnancy testing into menstrual regulation services in Vietnam . International Family Planning Perspectives . 1998;24(2):165–169
  26. Gorbach PM , Dao TKH , Tsui A , et al.   Reproduction, risk and reality: family planning and reproductive health in Northern Vietnam . Journal of Biosocial Science . 1998;30(3):393–404
  27. Bélanger D , Khuat TH . Youth, Premarital Sexuality and Abortion in the Hanoi Region: Results of a Survey . In: Ninth revision. Report presented to UNFPA . Hanoi: Institute of Sociology; 1996; (Unpublished)
  28. Bankole A , Singh S , Haas T . Characteristics of women who obtain induced abortion: a worldwide review . International Family Planning Perspectives . 1999;25(2):68–77

  29. The interviewer went to the clinic on different days of the week and at different times of day. She would sit in the reception area and wait until a woman identifying herself as single would arrive for an appointment. The nurse would ask the woman if she was interested in participating in the study. If she said yes, the interviewer would give her more information, get her agreement and arrange to meet with her. In some cases the interview took place that day, after her appointment. Of 23 women identified at the reception in the two clinics in this way, 20 agreed to participate. One to two interviews were conducted per day.

  30. Xenos P . Survey sheds new light on marriage and sexuality in the Philippines . Asia-Pacific Population and Policy . 1997;42:
  31. Thornton A , Chang JS , Lin HS . From arranged marriage toward love match . In:  Thornton A ,  Lin H-S editor. Social Change and the Family in Taiwan . Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1994;
  32. Silverio RJ . Premarital sex, contraceptives and the first time: the young and the restless in Hong Kong . In: Paper presented at 1995 Annual Population Association of America Meeting . San Francisco . 1995;
  33. Johansson  , Nguyen TN , Tran QH , et al.   Husbands' involvement in abortion in Vietnam . Studies in Family Planning . 1998;29(4):400–413

    Gammeltoft TS and Nguyen MT (Ref [12]) did find evidence of ethical concerns among single Vietnamese women who had had an abortion and such concerns were also present in a qualitative study among a small group of married Vietnamese men and women reported in:

  34. This finding was not unexpected because of the strong social norm to delay marriage well after completion of schooling. See Ref [9] for details of timing of marriage and social norms.

  35. Policy for Reducing the Need for Abortion Services in Young, Single People . Hanoi: Population Council; 1998; (Unpublished)

PII: S0968-8080(99)90008-3

Reproductive Health Matters
Volume 7, Issue 14 , Pages 71-82 , November 1999

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