English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

A Gendered and Rights-Based Review of Vietnamese Legal Documents through the Lens of CEDAW
Equality also provides that men and women are equal in terms of qualifications and age in
recruitment. 466 A look into the situation of employment in Viet Nam, however, shows that
horizontal segregation exists in Viet Nam; that is, certain jobs/industries are dominated by one
sex. 467 Farming is the most common occupation in Viet Nam, with 46 percent of men and 53
percent of women identifying farming as their main form of employment. Wage employment is
identified by more men (39.0 percent) than women (24.5 percent) as their main job:
construction, mining and transport for men and light manufacturing for women. On the other
hand, more women (23 percent) than men (16 percent) identify working in their own household
enterprise as their main form of employment – for women this includes grocery shops and
handicraft work, and for men this includes a motorbike taxi or vehicle repair business. Many
also combine farming with working in their own household business or wage employment.
The Enterprise Survey 2003 shows that more men than women are employed in State
enterprises and non-State enterprises. On the other hand, far more women than men are
employed in foreign investment enterprises. 468 The Enterprise Survey of 2003 further reveals
that male-dominated industries include fishing, mining and quarrying, electricity, water and gas
provision, and transport and communications. 469 Female-dominated industries include
manufacturing, and health and social work. However, the concentration of women in femaledominated
industries is not as pronounced as the concentration of men in male-dominated
industries.
This horizontal segregation can be the result of various reasons, but it may be due in
large part to notions that a particular job/industry is better suited to one sex. In this regard, it
is assumed that women are weak and cannot take on jobs that are hard, dangerous or toxic,
or jobs that interfere with their household or childcare functions; for example, jobs requiring
night work or travel. There are provisions in the Labour Code that prohibit hiring women for
specified dangerous work. They limit women’s choices of profession and contribute to the
notion that women are weaker or less able than men. In particular, Article 113 of the Labour
Code provides:
Article 113
(1) An employer must not assign a female employee to heavy or dangerous work, or
work requiring contact with toxic substances, which has adverse effects on her ability
to bear and raise a child, in accordance with the list issued by the Ministry of Labour,
War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Health. Enterprises which
currently employ female employees for the above work must formulate plans to train
and gradually transfer those female employees to other suitable work. These
enterprises must also carry out measures to protect the health of female workers,
improve working conditions, or reduce the number of working hours.
217
(2) Irrespective of her age, an employer must not employ a female to work regularly in
mines or in deep water.
466
Law on Gender Equality, Article 13
467
Wells, op. cit., p. 15
468
Ibid., p. 17
469
Ibid., p. 16
Employment (Article 11 of CEDAW)