MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINISTRY OF JUSTICE HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY MAI THI DIEU THUY LEGAL GUARANTEES OF WOMEN’S POLITICAL RIGHTS IN VIETNAM NOWADAYS SUMMARY OF THE DOCTORAL DISSERTATION HA N[.]
Trang 1MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY
MAI THI DIEU THUY
LEGAL GUARANTEES OF WOMEN’S POLITICAL RIGHTS IN
VIETNAM NOWADAYS
SUMMARY OF THE DOCTORAL DISSERTATION
HA NOI, 2023
Trang 2MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY
MAI THI DIEU THUY
LEGAL GUARANTEES OF WOMEN’S POLITICAL RIGHTS IN
VIETNAM NOWADAYS Major: Theory and History of State and Law
Trang 3INTRODUCTION
1 The necessity of the topic
In the world, women account for more than half of humanity and make enormous contributions to the development of nations and the happiness and peace of each family Women are still vulnerable despite such significant contributions to the country and family They suffer many disadvantages in social life, especially the country’s political life, because of their physical and gender characteristics In addition, they are subject to the primary victim of gender inequality in many fields, so it requires comprehensive attention and protection from society Thus, in 1979, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), commonly known as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights against Women Accordingly, it is necessary to establish perfect mechanisms to ensure and protect women’s rights internationally and nationally
The rule-of-law socialist model that Vietnam is building and perfecting always pursues the determination to respect human rights and considers this as one of the priorities especially characteristic of the socialist regime Therefore, the consistent policy of the Party and the State of Vietnam is the guarantee of human rights and the implementation of gender equality effectively in actual social life
In recent years, legal and institutional frameworks on women’s political rights have undergone drastic changes in organizational structure, capacity implementation, and guaranteed quality of activities, which partly meet the needs of participating in the political life of women in the current period
However, law enforcement practice shows that there are still significant inequalities between men and women, especially in the political sphere Women were elected as National Assembly deputies for the first time in 1976; however, Vietnamese women’s participation in state management has increased significantly but not stably through the National Assembly and National Assembly There is still a long distance from the target
set by the Gender Equality Strategy for 2021-2030: “By 2025, 60% and by 2030, 75% of
state management agencies and local governments at all levels will have female key leaders” 1 This situation is demonstrated in the Final Report on the election of deputies to
the XV National Assembly and the People’s Councils at all levels for the 2021-2026 term, issued on July 14, 2021 Specifically: Female deputies to the XV National Assembly are 151/499, accounting for 30.26% Female deputies of the People’s Councils at all levels for the 2021-2026 term: at the provincial level, there are 1079/3721 delegates, accounting for 29%; district level has 6,584/22,550 delegates, accounting for 29.2%; Commune level has 69,487/239,788 delegates, accounting for 28.9%2
Notably, Laws, Resolutions, directives, and action plans on ensuring women’s political rights have yet to come to life Therefore, strengthening the legal guarantee of
1 National Strategy on Gender Equality for the 2021-2030 period (Promulgated together with Resolution No 28/NQ-CP dated March 3, 2021 of the Government)
2 National Election Council, Final Report on the election of deputies to the XV National Assembly and deputies
to the People's Councils at all levels for the 2021-2026 term, July 14, 2021
Trang 4women’s political rights is essential due to its crucial role in security measures This measure is not only a premise, a basis for women to enjoy privileges, but a solid foundation for promoting the part of state agencies, social organizations, communities, and especially the role of themselves women as beneficiaries of political rights in realizing women’s political rights Likewise, in terms of theory, an overview of research works related to the legal guarantee of women’s political rights of women in Vietnam figures out the shortage
of such a line of research Hence, the theoretical framework for the above legal guarantee
is a big gap
For the reasons mentioned earlier, the research on the topic: “Legal guarantee of
women’s political rights in Vietnam nowadays” at the doctoral dissertation level shall make
a significant contribution to both theory and practice in Vietnam Systematic research on
theory and practice: “Legal guarantee of women’s political rights in Vietnam nowadays”
will promptly respond to requirements on strengthening gender equality and promoting democracy in the political life of the country, primarily to ensure better the implementation
of the political rights of citizens in general and the political rights of women in particular
2 The purpose and task of the dissertation
2.1 The purpose of research
The dissertation aims to find and propose several necessary solutions that are realistic, scientific, and feasible to improve the legal guarantee of women’s political rights
in Vietnam today
2.2 The task of research
To achieve the above purposes, the thesis focuses on the following tasks:
- To review domestic and foreign scientific works on the legal guarantee of women’s political rights in general and of Vietnamese women, in particular, to find out research results that can be inherited and determine the contents for further research
- To clarify the theoretical basis of women’s political rights and legal guarantee of women’s political rights, including the concept of women’s political rights; the concept, characteristics, and content of legal guarantee of women’s political rights, as well as the role and factors affecting the legal guarantee of women’s political rights
- To clarify the practice of legally guaranteeing women’s political rights in Vietnam, point out the achievements and limitations of this guarantee, and identify the causes of such
a situation
- To identify opinions and propose solutions to improve the legal guarantee of women’s political rights in Vietnam in the current period
3 The methodological basis and research methods
3.1 The methodological basis
The dissertation is conducted based on dialectical and historical materialism of Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh’s thoughts on the socialist State and law, the relationship
Trang 5between the State and citizens, human rights, socialist democracy, and building a rule of law-oriented State Socialism
- Chapter 2: The author used normative analysis, statistical analysis and synthesis, and comparative methods
- Chapter 3: The author uses methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison of laws, scientific forecasting methods
In addition, in the process of researching the thesis, the author also uses a systematic, interdisciplinary approach to the social sciences and humanities, with a special focus on jurisprudence
4 Research scopes
- Scope of content: This thesis focuses on the following main topics:
+ Theoretical issues on the legal guarantee of women’s political rights
+ The current practice of legal assurance of women’s political rights in Vietnam + Perspectives and solutions to improve the legal guarantee of women’s political rights in Vietnam
- Spatial scope: Theory and practice of legal assurance of women’s political rights
in Vietnam
- Scope of time: From 2013 to present
5 New contributions of the dissertation
The dissertation systematically researches the legal guarantee of women’s political rights in building the rule-of-law State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
First, the thesis has added to the theoretical framework on the legal guarantee of women’s political rights, including concepts, essential characteristics, and the fundamental elements of the legal guarantee of women’s political rights in the conditions of building a socialist rule-of-law State in Vietnam
Second, the dissertation comprehensively assesses the achievements and limitations
of the legal guarantee of women’s political rights under the general guarantees of women’s rights in the political field and the reasons for such practices
Trang 6Third, the dissertation has established a range of scientific solutions related to strengthening the legal guarantee of women’s political rights in Vietnam under the conditions and orientations for building a socialist rule-of-law State in Vietnam today, concentrating on 04 groups of solutions as follows:
- Solutions related to the awareness of organizations and individuals about ensuring women’s political rights in Vietnam
- Solutions related to perfecting legal provisions on women’s political rights
- Solutions related to improving enforcement efficiency to ensure women’s political rights in Vietnam today
- Solutions related to raising the awareness of individuals and organizations about ensuring women’s political rights in Vietnam today
6 Scientific and applicative value of the doctoral dissertation
7 Research hypothesis and research question
7.1 Research hypothesis
Based on research on the legal guarantee of political rights of women in Vietnam today as well as the practical application, the thesis needs to concentrate on the following scientific hypothesis: The practice of legally guaranteeing women’s political rights in Vietnam over the years, despite remarkable achievements, there are still has certain limitations, which leads to the fact that the legal guarantee of women’s political rights in Vietnam in recent years has yet entirely played its significant role and significance, negatively affecting the quality and effectiveness of ensuring women’s political rights
Trang 7Second, how is the legal guarantee of women’s political rights implemented in our country? What are the achievements and limitations? What are the causes of such accomplishments and restrictions?
Third, what principles and recommendations should guide efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of the current legislative protections for women’s political rights in Vietnam?
8 Structure of the Dissertation
In addition to the introduction, conclusion, list of references, and appendices, the Dissertation consists of 3 chapters:
Chapter 1: Theoretical framework on the legal guarantee of women’s political rights Chapter 2: Current status of the legal guarantee of women’s political rights in
Vietnam
Chapter 3: Orientation and proposals for strengthening the present legal
guarantee of women’s political rights in Vietnam
LITERATURE REVIEW OF THE RESEARCH ISSUES RELATED TO
THE DISSERTATION
In international legal science, many theses, programs, projects, and scientific research work on women’s rights and gender equality in the political field Below is some scientific research related to women’s political rights and the legal guarantee of women’s political rights, which the author studies during the dissertation in association with the established purposes and research task
1 National scientific research works
1.1 Research works on the theoretical framework of the legal guarantee of women’s political rights in Vietnam
1.1.1 Research works on women’s rights, women’s political rights
Book “Women’s participation in leadership and management” by the Center for
Scientific Research on Female Labor, 1997 This study is an overview of the position and role of Vietnamese women in the political system and the barriers affecting their participation in politics, taking approaches from political science, sociology, and culturology
Thesis “Women’s right to participate in state management according to Vietnamese
legislation” by Nguyen Thi Mai, 2016 The thesis introduced the theoretical basis for
women’s right to participate in state management and factors negatively affecting the right
to participate in state management in practice Besides, the thesis also made several proposals to improve the efficiency of Vietnamese women’s right to participate in state management
Trang 8Thesis “Women’s rights to participate in elected bodies in Vietnam” by Nguyen
Thi Ngoc Tram, 2017 The thesis has analyzed deeply the theoretical basis of women’s rights to participate in elected bodies and the status and factors affecting the implementation
of women’s rights to participate in elected bodies in our country from term X
1.1.2 Research works on the guarantee, the legal guarantee of women’s political rights
Ministry-level scientific research project “Ensuring women’s rights in Vietnam
today,” by Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Thi Bao, 2014-2015 The project has systematized the
theoretical basis for ensuring women’s rights and the experiences of some countries in the world and lessons for Vietnam on ensuring women’s rights in Vietnam today
Hue University-level scientific research project “Ensuring the implementation of
women’s political rights – Practices in Thua Thien Hue province,” by Mai Thi Dieu Thuy,
2018-2020 The project clarifies the theoretical basis of ensuring the implementation of women’s political rights and the situation of ensuring women’s political rights in Thua Thien Hue province In addition, the project also has proposed several highly feasible solutions
For theses and dissertations on the guarantee and legal guarantee of human rights in general and women’s rights in particular, there are also:
Doctoral Thesis “Legal guarantee of the right to access information in Vietnam
today” by Le Thi Hong Nhung, 2015 The author has developed a relatively comprehensive
concept of the legal guarantee of the right to access information and the characteristics and contents of this form of guarantee The author also figured out the current situation and proposed solutions to improve the effectiveness of legal guarantees of the right to access information in our country
Thesis “Legal guarantees in implementing women’s rights in our country today”
by Pham Thi Tinh, 2007 Through theoretical research on the legal guarantee of women’s rights, the author has evaluated the current status of the legal guarantee of women’s rights
in various aspects
1.2 Research works on the practice of the legal guarantee of women’s political rights in Vietnam
State-level independent scientific research project “Improving leadership capacity
of female cadres in the political system,” by Central Organization Committee, 2006 The
research assessed the current situation of the leadership capacity of female cadres from the central government to the locality, which makes the basis for appropriate solutions to strengthen the political leadership capacity of this target group
Ministry-level scientific research project “Vietnamese women in leadership and
public management today” by Dr Dang Anh Tuyet, 2015-2016 This project has
researched and analyzed the current situation of Vietnamese women in leadership and public management; points out the causes and factors affecting women’s participation in leadership and public management
Trang 9In addition, several research works have also been conducted on the practice of the legal guarantee of women’s political rights as follows:
Doctoral Thesis “The role of female leaders and managers in the process of
industrialization and modernization” (the case of Quang Ngai province), by Vo Thi Mai,
2011 The thesis has analyzed the current situation of Quang Ngai province and pointed out the influencing factors and challenges faced by all levels and sectors Hence, the thesis proposes solutions to enhance the role of female leaders and managers in the cause of national renewal
The article “Gender prejudice against women in leadership and management” by
Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, published in Communist Journal No (1), 2008 The article analyzed the influence of gender stereotype barriers on the role of women’s political participation
1.3 Research works on viewpoints and recommendations to strengthen the legal guarantee of women’s political rights
Ministry-level scientific research project “Vietnamese women in leadership and
public management today,” by Dr Dang Anh Tuyet, Institute of Sociology, Ho Chi Minh
National Academy of Politics, 2015-2016 The project has a detailed analysis of the promotion experiences of women in leadership and management combined with the analysis of Vietnam’s economic, political, and social conditions It offers solutions to help women advance in leadership and management
Book “Improving the leadership capacity of female cadres in the political system”
by Nguyen Duc Hat, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2007 The book has introduced effective measures to improve female cadres’ positions, roles, and leadership capacity and strengthen their participation in leadership and management in the apparatus
of the Party, State, and mass organizations in Vietnam
Thesis “Women’s right to participate in state management according to Vietnamese
legislation,” by Nguyen Thi Mai, 2016 The thesis has stated the actual situation of
implementing the right to participate in state management of Vietnamese women in recent years and proposed solutions to improve the efficiency of Vietnamese women’s right to participate in state management
2 Foreign scientific research works
2.1 Research works on theoretical framework of the legal guarantee of women’s political rights
Book “Women in politics and Decision-Making in the Late Twentieth Century,” by
Center for Humanitarian and Social Development, United Nations Office in Vienna, Martinus Nijhoff Publishing House, 1992 The book pointed out obstacles to women in decision-making related to state management, thereby proposing measures to overcome such obstacles and increase the percentage of women participating in politics in the coming time
Trang 10The article “Legal Guarantee for Rights of Political Participation of Citizens in
Harmonious Society” by Zhang Shunqing was published in Yangtze Tribune, issue 3, 51-
55p, 2008 The author analyzes in depth the mechanism for ensuring the right to political participation of citizens (including women) by the Constitution and the law, points out the limitations and shortcomings which lead to several recommendations to strengthen the establishment of democratic social rules and expand the political participation of the people citizens for human rights
2.2 Research works on the practice of the legal guarantee of women’s political rights
Report “Women’s participation in leadership and management roles in Vietnam,”
Jean Muro, 2012 The report provides an overview of the legal framework related to women’s leadership and an analysis of challenges and barriers for women
The article “Strengthening the voice, leadership, and participation of women from
Asia Pacific and beyond” by Kim Henderson was posted in the Proceedings of the Annual
Meeting: “Strengthening the leadership capacity of female cadres, contributing to the development of human resources for service international integration service,” 2011 The article has comprehensively described women’s participation in state management activities at the grassroots level and pointed out the factors affecting women’s leadership
and management, including individual, organizational, and social factors
2.3 Research works on viewpoints and recommendations to strengthen the legal guarantee of women’s political rights
The publication “Gender Equality in Elected Office in the Asia Pacific: Six Actions
to Expand Women’s Empowerment” by Pippa Norris outlined six rapid institutional
reforms aimed at achieving their goals of gender equality in elected bodies and empowering women most effectively
Publication “A Transformative Stand-Alone Goal on Achieving Gender Equality,
Women’s Rights and Women’s Empowerment: Imperatives and Key Components” by UN
Women, June 2013 The publication outlines UN Women’s messages calling on countries
to make specific commitments to improve legal guarantees and enforcement resources on gender equality and women’s empowerment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
3 Evaluation of results of research works related to the topic of the dissertation
From the process of studying the works done at home and abroad on the legal assurance of women’s political rights related to the topic, the author found that the research works achieved some results as follows:
3.1 The research results inherited and on the way of development by the dissertation
- In theory:
Trang 11Research works at home and abroad have mentioned and analyzed the theoretical basis of women’s political rights and ensuring women’s political rights These studies have clarified the concept, content, purpose, and methods of ensuring women’s political rights
In most of the research, the authors have pointed out the internalization of international conventions related to women’s rights in the current Vietnamese legal framework The scholars explained, compared with convincing grounds, and assessed the value of the Vietnamese legislation on women’s rights in general and women’s political rights in particular, proving the difference and progress in the legal framework of Vietnam compared to the laws of some countries
Research works in Vietnam and abroad have also provided views on the concept, position, role, characteristics, and content of women’s political rights
- In practice:
The above research, as mentioned earlier, has generalized the legal status of women’s rights in general and women’s political rights in particular, which contributes to the scientific basis to evaluate more objectively and comprehensively the current state of a legal guarantee of the political rights of women in Vietnam Research works at home and abroad have analyzed the general guarantee conditions regarding the economy, society,
politics, and legal so that women’s political rights can be realized
- In viewpoints and recommendations:
Research works in Vietnam and abroad have created an overview of the role, content, implementation method, and effectiveness in ensuring women’s political rights This knowledge is an essential scientific basis for research and comparison from a jurisprudence perspective on the role, content, implementation method, and effectiveness of the general guarantee of women’s political rights Moreover, it draws advantages and lessons learned from activities to ensure women’s political rights in advanced countries
3.2 Issues under further research in the dissertation
The study of the research works mentioned above shows that to be able to complete the defined research tasks, the thesis needs to continue to study the following issues:
It is necessary to research and develop a comprehensive notion of the legal guarantee of women’s political rights because no research work in Vietnam has given a comprehensive concept; thus, the issue has not been resolved thoroughly and convincingly
Most studies on women’s political rights in Vietnam do not analyze and evaluate the content of legal guarantees in-depth However, they only concentrated on analyzing the legal framework of women’s political participation Furthermore, there is also a lack of comprehensive analysis and assessment of the practical application of the legal guarantee
of women’s political rights through an independent study
The views and solutions to improve the effectiveness of ensuring women’s political rights have only been mentioned from the perspective of general guarantees in the research works of domestic and foreign scholars in a scattered manner Therefore, it is still necessary
Trang 12to develop viewpoints and solutions to improve and promote the role of the legal guarantee
of women’s political rights comprehensively and systematically, reflected in independent research from available warranties
CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ON THE LEGAL GUARANTEE OF WOMEN’S
The political right is among the most fundamental rights recognized and protected
by the Constitution and laws to establish the legal capacity of citizens to participate directly
or indirectly in state management and social management
Such definition figures out two necessary contents of the implementation of political rights as follows:
First, citizens participate in state management and social management directly Second, citizens participate in state management and social management indirectly Therefore, the political rights of women here are understood by the author as follows:
Women’s political rights are one of the fundamental rights of women recognized and protected by the Constitution and laws, aimed at establishing the equal legal capacity
of women and men in participating in state management and social management
1.1.2 Characteristic
- Women's political rights have the nature of human rights and citizens' rights
- Women's political rights determine the level of gender equality so that women can participate in activities of the state apparatus and social organizations
- Women's political rights have their own mechanisms to ensure by both national and international legal systems
1.1.1.3 Contents of women's political rights
- Firstly, on the right to vote, stand for election and participate in state and social management work
Trang 13- Second, complementary rights: freedom of assembly, association, demonstration, freedom of speech and press; the right to access information, complaints and denunciations
1.1.2 Guarantee of women’s political right
1.1.2.1 Concept
The guarantee of women’s political right means that the State, agencies, organizations and individuals establish the necessary conditions and preconditions and take measures to support women in fully accessing and enjoying their political rights most effectively
Considering the correlation between political rights and other rights in the absolute human rights, the guarantee of women’s political rights has two basic characteristics:
First, guaranteeing women’s political rights refers to ensuring the right of the vulnerable groups in the political sector
Second, the guarantee of women’s political rights means taking special measures suitable to the conditions of each country to enforce women’s political rights
1.1.2.2 Types of the guarantee of women’s political right
a Economic guarantee
b Political guarantee
c Cultural and social guarantee
d Legal guarantee
1.1.2.3 Role of the guarantee of women’s political right
It is noted that legal science distinguishes the guarantee from two types: general guarantee (including guarantee on economy, politics, society, and ideology) and legal guarantee
There is always a reciprocal relationship between the forms of guarantee General guarantees create a solid foundation for exercising women’s political rights; they not only affect the formulation of the content of legal norms but also make an essential contribution
to forming legal awareness of women’s political rights On the other hand, the legal norm
is the direct factor ensuring that women’s political rights can operate in exercising their rights, but not economic, political, or political, sociocultural guarantees
1.2 Concept, role of the legal guarantee of women’s political right
1.2.1 Concept of the legal guarantee of women’s political right
1.2.1.1 Concept
Trang 14The legal guarantee of women’s political rights is a necessary and sufficient legal prerequisite for implementing women’s political rights in practice, creating natural equality between women and men in the political field for the construction and development of the country
1.2.1.2 Characteristic of the legal guarantee of women’s political right
First, it is universally obligatory and guaranteed by state power
Second, it creates an equal legal environment for women in the country’s political life
Third, it expresses national awareness, policies, qualifications, and legislative techniques
Fourth, it relates closely with other forms of guarantee
1.2.2 Significance of the legal guarantee of women’s political right
Legal guarantee of women’s political rights plays a critical role in the construction and development of the country, which is reflected in the following aspects:
First, the formulation and implementation of the legal guarantee of women’s
political rights affirm the State’s responsibility to create the necessary conditions so that citizens, in general, and women, in particular, participate in political and social life and exercise their fundamental rights, primarily to participate in state management and social management directly or indirectly
Second, implementing the legal guarantee of women’s political rights contributes to
improving the role of women in political life
Third, the legal guarantee of women’s political rights is one of the means
contributing to ensuring the democracy of the rule-of-law State of the people, by the people, and for the people
Fourth, the legal guarantee of women’s political rights contributes significantly to
achieving other human rights for women
1.3 Content of the legal guarantee of women’s political right
1.3.1 Legislation on the guarantee of women’s political right
a Legal principles on the guarantee of women’s political right
- The principle of equality between men and women
- Principle of non-discrimination against women
- Principle of national responsibility
b Legal norms on the guarantee of women’s political right
Trang 15Based on fundamental principles related to the guarantee of women’s political rights,
a system of legal norms on political rights and guaranteeing women’s political rights were established, which mainly focus on some basics:
First, legal norms defining the content and concretization of women’s constitutional
rights in the political sphere
Second, regulations on the organizational structure of institutions to ensure the
exercise of women’s political rights Regulations on the responsibilities of the State, cadres, and civil servants in ensuring the exercise of political rights of women
Third, provisions on sanctions to ensure the exercise of the political rights of women Fourth, the regulation on monitoring and inspecting the exercise of women’s
political rights to assess the exercise of women’s political rights
1.3.2 Organization and activities of individuals and organizations in exercising the political rights of women
To ensure that women’s rights in general and women’s political rights, in particular, are recognized by law on the international, regional, and national scale, several effective institutions have been established to ensure women’s political rights
a On the international scale
United Nation - UN
Commission on the Status of Women – CSW
Commission on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women – CEDAW
b On the regional scale
ASEAN Committee on Women – ACW
ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women – ACWC
c On the national scale
Within the country, a system of institutions to guarantee women’s rights, in general, and women’s political rights, in particular, has been established
* First, powerful institutions guaranteeing women’s political rights
The National Assembly, the People’s Council, the Government, Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, agencies directly under the Government, People’s Committees
at all levels, the People’s Court, and People’s Procuracy
* Second, Social institutions guaranteeing women’s political rights In Vietnam,
socio-political organizations (Fatherland Front, General Confederation
Trang 16of Labor, Women’s Union, Youth Union, Veterans Association, Farmers’ Union) and professional social organizations such as the Lawyers’ Association, the Journalists’ Association, etc., have demonstrated their role in ensuring the political rights of women
In addition, it is essential to mention the critical role of international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in creating mechanisms to ensure women’s political rights, such as UNDP, UN Women, and other organizations UN in Vietnam
1.3.3 Legal awareness of women’s political rights
Regarding guaranteeing women’s political rights, legal consciousness is a motivating factor in ensuring the implementation of these rights in practice The achievement of this goal depends on two main actors: the first is the state as the subject of law-making, the social organizations with the role of enforcement, and the second is the woman as the beneficiary of rights Accordingly, legal awareness of the guarantee of women’s political rights includes awareness, attitude, and responsibility from state agencies, social organizations, and the legal consciousness of women These two types of legal consciousness of these actors will have different impacts on the effectiveness of women’s political rights
1.4 Factors affecting to the legal guarantee of women’s political right
1.4.8.The other factors
1.5 Experiences of some countries in the world in establishing the legal guarantee of women’s political rights
1.5.1 Legislation on the guarantee of women’s political rights
In recent years, with significant efforts of the Governments, human rights movements, women’s movements, media, cultural and religious factors in countries and regions have experienced tremendous progress For example, France was the first country
in the world to apply a mandatory 50% female candidate rate of political parties in elections Therefore, political parties will have to work to get sufficient female candidates Finland was the first country in Europe and the world to grant women the right to vote in 1906 As for Norway, since 1913, this country has allowed women to vote and, in 1930, allowed women to run for parliament In 1979, Norway enacted the Gender Equality Law, which contained provisions to ensure that women and men were equal in development
Trang 171.5.2 Organization and operation of institutions in the exercise of women’s political rights
Norway has created a relatively effective guaranteeing institution, the Ministry of Family and Gender Equality, the agency the Government assigned to oversee this provision’s implementation If any agency or unit fails to reach the prescribed rate, the Ministry shall request the Government not to allow its establishment Thus, institutions at all levels in Norway have achieved an average of 43% females For Finland, the Government pays great attention to building and perfecting a specialized apparatus on gender equality, including the Gender Equality Ministry in charge of gender equality and the Gender Equality Inspector A similar situation happened in Sweden when the Government established a mechanism to monitor the implementation of measures to ensure gender equality by the Parliamentary Inspector on Gender Equality (Equality Ombudsman)
1.5.3 Legal consciousness of women’s political right in several countries
As for the political field, the Finnish Government is always aware of and highly appreciates the contribution of women to political activities, so the Government is very interested in ensuring women’s rights In Finland, 50% of the Government, members of the City Council, and 47% of parliamentarians are women Aware of their role in political life, women in Finland are very active in participating in political parties Besides Finland, the authorities in Norway are very interested in gender equality and consider it one of the four central national development issues Norway is also a country with a high percentage of women participating in leadership and is relatively early in the world, surpassing Sweden and the United States Therefore, Norwegian women actively participate in political life; the proportion of female MPs in Parliament accounts for 39.4%, and female participation
in the Government is 47%
1.5.4 Lessons for Vietnam
First, lessons in formulating policies and laws to guarantee women’s political rights Second, lessons in enforcing policies and laws guaranteeing women’s political
POLITICAL RIGHTS IN VIETNAM 2.1 Overview of the process of formation and development of the legal guarantee of political rights of women in Vietnam
Trang 182.1.1 The formation and development of legal framework to legally guarantee the political rights of women in Vietnam
Appreciating the role of Vietnamese women in the first Constitution of 1946 of the fledgling independent State, the equal rights of men and women in the political field were recognized with the view of “men and women equality” in political life For the first time
in history as a citizen, women are recognized as equal to men and guaranteed to exercise their political equality fully in a legally highest valid document
Inheriting the spirit of the 1946 Constitution, the 1959 Constitution continued to affirm the equality of men and women in all fields
In addition, the 1959 Constitution also dedicated a separate chapter to define the fundamental rights of citizens, including women The 1980 Constitution continued to recognize and inherit the legal ideas on women’s rights in the previous Constitutions and expanded women’s rights in society
On April 15, 1992, the National Assembly passed the 1992 Constitution, continuing
to affirm the fundamental freedoms of citizens in general and the rights of women in particular in Articles 54 and 67 of the Constitution Such provisions establish women’s equal rights in formulating and implementing government policies and participation in government positions and public functions at all levels In the current period, to meet the strong development of economy, politics, and international integration, the 2013 Constitution replaced the 1992 Constitution, in which, previous Chapter V of Human Rights, citizens’ fundamental rights and obligations are placed solemnly in Chapter II Accordingly, women’s rights, an integral and integral part of human rights and citizenship, are once again affirmed and promoted
In addition to the Constitution, Vietnam’s first Law on Marriage and Family, passed
by the National Assembly on December 29, 1959, and took effect on February 3, 1960, established monogamous marriage, gender equality in the family for the first time has been fully recognized in a legal document with high legal value
On November 27, 1981, the Council of State ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Based on the internalization of the CEDAW Convention, the State has issued many important legal documents to create a solid legal corridor for women to exercise their political rights most effectively
2.1.2 The formation and development of institutions on the legal guarantee ò women’s political rights in Vietnam
In 1925 - 1929, 5 groups of women were organized with various forms of activities throughout the country From 1930 to 1936, the activities of the women’s movement had many organizational methods suitable to the Party’s policy of secret activities In the period 1936-1939, the Resolution of the Conference of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Indochina in August 1937 on the work of mobilizing women set the public and lawful task of anti-fascism and anti-war On June 16, 1941, the Women’s Union for