English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

CEDAW and the Law:
The quality of population information and data, especially on access by a wider
group of women, other than married women must be improved. An explicit provision on
this must be in all legal documents on the equal access by unmarried women to all
family planning services. There should be a clear prohibition on discriminating against
them on account of their unmarried status.
Indicator 116 Does the legislation provide for equal property rights of men and
women who live together without the benefit marriage (de facto
unions)
There is no special provision in Vietnamese legal documents governing property
relations of unions without marriage where there exists no legal impediment for a valid
marriage. However, there are some provisions that may apply to some instances of unions
without marriage registration or without a legal marriage such as Article 11 of the Marriage and
Family Law, which states that persons who fail to register their marriage but live together as
husband and wife will not be recognized by law as husband and wife.
In certain circumstances, Article 17 of the Marriage and Family Law may also apply. It
provides for situations where an illegal marriage is annulled. In these cases, the property of
the man and the woman will be dealt with by recognizing that personal property belongs to one
of them and their common property will be divided as agreed upon by both of them. If they fail
to reach an agreement, they may request the courts to divide the property. The courts will
consider each partner’s contributions as well as protection of the legitimate interests of women
and children. However, no further provisions are provided on how each partner’s contributions
are to be considered.
In a valid marriage, property relations during marriage are stipulated explicitly (see
Indicator 114 for the provisions of law). Express provisions are also provided in cases of
divorce where division of property can be agreed on by the parties or, in cases of
disagreement, settled by the courts in accordance with the following principle: the common
property is halved between the spouses bearing in mind each party’s contributions, where
housework is regarded as income-generating labour. 777
322
Without an express provision governing unions without marriage, women’s reproductive
contributions in these relationships, including care for the family, household chores, etc., will
be disregarded. Hence, one of the main reasons why express attention on unions without
marriage is important is to ensure protection of the contributions of women or ‘wives’ in
relationships where they have little negotiating power on account of their subordinate status in
family and society. Thus, where a man and woman live together as husband and wife without
the benefit of marriage or marriage registration, a woman may also be less likely to assert
herself over her ‘husband’, including on matters such as property rights and registration of
marriage.
Recommendation: It is suggested that explicit provisions be provided for de facto
unions. To define specifically what ‘unions without marriage’ are contemplated to be
covered by legislation, it could define its coverage as including only those unions
without marriage where a man and woman are: (a) capacitated to marry each other; (b)
live exclusively with each other as husband and wife; and (c) are not married or under
777
Law on Marriage and Family, Article 95
Review of key legal documents and compliance with CEDAW