Well this is…something.
The Ministry of Public Security is considering levying fines up to VND2 million for domestic psychological abuse.
Under the proposed legislation, acts of domestic psychological abuse are split into different categories of severity, each with a corresponding fine.
Good stuff, good stuff. The thing is there doesn’t seem to be much logic behind the ranking of various abuses.
For example, the fine for showing pornography would carry a VND2 million fine while raping one’s spouse would only set you back VND500,000 – VND1 million. Yeah…
Here’s a breakdown of the fines:
VND1.5 – 2 million:
- Forcing family members to go without food or adequate clothing
- Abandoning elderly, sick or disabled family members
- Abandoning pregnant women or mothers of young children
- Showing images, items or creatures for the purpose of injuring their mental health
- Showing pornography or horror films
- Publicizing family members’ personal secrets without their consent
VND1 – 1.5 million:
- Those who verbally abuse family members (whatever that means. Idiot.)
VND500,000 – 1 million:
- Those who force their spouses to leave their home at night during inclement weather
- Those force their spouses to have sex, use sexual stimulants or perform sexually arousing acts against their will
VND100,000 – 300,000:
- Acts of forced isolation. Forbidding family members from leaving the house, going to work or using the public media
The draft does not mention punishments for physical abuses so, uh, no worries if you're doing any of that.
