"Respect! My body!" Booklet Launching event

Hanoi, 23 May 2017 – Today, the “Repect! My body!” booklet for grown-ups on how to talk with children about body boundaries and sexual abuse was officially introduced in an event hosted by Trung Hoa Secondary School, Cau Giay District, Hanoi. The event is jointly organized by the Swedish Embassy, Save the Children in Vietnam and Vietnam Programme for Internet and Society.

In the event, Ms. Dragana Strinic, Country Director of Save the Children in Vietnam stated: “There is no more beautiful, and at the same time, more difficult job, than being a parent. From the moment we become parents, our lives change and our main focus becomes responsibility for making sure that our children grow safe, healthy and happy. However, often children do get in danger and they do get abused. In Vietnam, the public has recently been made aware of a number of cases of child abuse, including sexual abuse. According to statistics from Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, there were over 1,200 cases of child sexual abuse reported in Vietnam in 2016. The effects of such abuse on children are devastating.”

Agreed with this, Ambassador Högberg also stressed “Investing in children and protecting children against violence, exploitation and abuse is one of priorities of the Swedish Government. Making the rights of the child a reality for every child is at the heart of our work. Therefore, sexual violence and abuse against children is unacceptable in all settings and situations in Sweden, Vietnam and elsewhere”.

“In Vietnam like elsewhere, some parents can feel very confident dealing with concrete issues like teaching their children the values of right and wrong - but what happens when they want to talk openly with young children about their own bodies, sexuality and boundaries?  How do they teach children at an early age that their body is their own and that no one can touch it without permission or help them respond when they feel threatened or uncomfortable?, said Ambassador Pereric Högberg during an event in Hanoi today while referring to a useful handbook for adults and teachers to talk to their children about their body boundaries and sexual abuse. 

As a part of this initiative, Professor Pham Quang Minh - President of Hanoi University of Social Science and Humanity shared: “Making this handbook available in Vietnamese and introducing this to general public is very meaningful and helpful for us to address the issue of child sexual abuse in Vietnam in long-term”

Released by Save the Children Sweden as part of an integrated child sexual abuse campaign, the handbook offers advices and good tips to parents and other adults on how to teach children of different ages to protect themselves from sexual abuse and how to speak openly about sexuality, private body parts, safe and unsafe touching, and what is and what is not allowed for adults to do when in contact with children. The handbook is available in Swedish, English, Spanish and Arabic. Now, the handbook is already translated into Vietnamese and made available for the first time.

Please click here for online version of the “Respect! My body!” booklet.