Inclusion of Intersectionality and Gender Analysis in Social Policy Development in Vietnam
Keywords:
Gender analysis, intersectionality, social policy, policy documents, Crenshaw.Abstract
The study assesses the extent to which intersectionality and gender analysis are embedded in social policies in Vietnam. The idea of intersectionality suggests that the impact of social policy varies depending on how social stratifiers such as gender, class, race, education, disability, and sexuality interact to create different outcomes. Policies that are targeted at the general public without considering the impact on diverse groups risk exacerbating their disadvantaged position. Gender analysis is a first step to achieving equitable policy outcomes and how intersectionality is operationalised. The study undertook content analysis of 70 reports published in Vietnam on the various fields of social policy, including health, education, employment, housing, ethnic minority, social cohesion and climate change. The research findings indicate that gender analysis is yet to prevail as a standard practice in social policy in Vietnam. Some strategies are identified for how gender analysis and intersectionality can be better promoted to bring about more equitable policy outcomes for Vietnamese women, resulting in improved women’s rights in a non-political and non-confrontational manner.
Classification number
Sociology
Downloads
Published
2023-12-22
References
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Yuval-Davis, N. (2006). Intersectionality and feminist politics. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 13(3):
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World Economic Forum. (March 2021). Global gender gap report 2021. Geneva. https://www3.weforum.org/ docs/WEF_GGGR_2021.pdf
Asylum Research Consultancy. (2017). Vietnam query response: The treatment of ethnic minority groups in
Vietnam: Hmongs and Montagnards.
Bennett, W. L. (2012). The personalization of politics: political identity, social media, and changing patterns of participation. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 644(1): 20-39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716212451428
Béland, D. (2009). Gender, ideational analysis, and social policy. Social Politics: International Studies in
Gender, State & Society, 16(4): 558-581.
Berelson, B. (1952). Content analysis in communication research. New York: Free Press.
Coaston, J. (28 May 2019). The intersectionality wars. Vox. https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/5/20/ 18542843/intersectionality-conservatism-law-race-gender-discrimination
Columbia Public Health. (7 June 2022). The content analysis. https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/ research/population-health-methods/contentanalysis#.
Crenshaw, K. (1994). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women
of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6): 1241-1299.
Crenshaw, K. (7 December 2016). The urgency of intersectionality [Video file]. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=akOe5-UsQ2o
Crenshaw, K. (2017). On intersectionality: Essential writings. https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/books/255 Crenshaw, T. (2 August 2016). Intro to intersectionality [Video file]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= OWeDatP0cv4
Dean, L., Tolhurst, R., Khanna, R. & Jehan, K. (2017). You’re disabled, why did you have sex in the first place? An intersectional analysis of experiences of disabled women with regard to their sexual and reproductive health and rights in Gujarat State, India. Glob Health Action. 10(sup2).
Duong, W. (2001). Gender equality and women’s issues in Vietnam: the Vietnamese woman-warrior and
poet. Washington International Law Journal, 10: 194-326.
Gammeltoft, T. (2002). Being special for somebody: Urban sexualities in contemporary Vietnam. Asian
Journal of Social Science, 30(3): 476-492.
Government of Canada. (2019). Gender analysis [Video file]. https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/funding-financement/gender_analysis-analyse_comparative.aspx?lang=eng
Hankivsky, O., Cormier, R., & De Merich, D. (2009). Intersectionality: Moving women’s health research and policy forward. https://www.ifsee.ulaval.ca/sites/ifsee.ulaval.ca/files/Intersectionality_Moving_Womens_ Health_Research_P.pdf
Investing in Women. (n.d.). Gender equality and women’s issues in Vietnam: The Vietnamese Woman - Warrior and Poet. Australian Aid. https://investinginwomen.asia/knowledge/gender-equality-womens-issues-vietnam-vietnamese-woman-warrior-poet/
Khiet, H. (2000). Women in 2000: Gender equality, development, and peace for the 21st century. Speech at the UN General Assembly’s 23rd Special Session (New York).
Klasen, P., Lechtenfeld, T., & Povel, F. (2015). A feminization of vulnerability? Female headship, poverty, and vulnerability in Thailand and Vietnam. World Development, 71: 36-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.worlddev. 2013.11.003
Lan Anh Hoang. (2020). The Vietnam Women’s Union and the contradictions of a socialist gender regime.
Asian Studies Review, 44(2): 297-314.
Larson, E., George, A., Morgan, R. & Poteat, T. (2016). 10 Best resources on… intersectionality with an emphasis on low- and middle-income countries. Health Policy Plan, 31(8): 964-9. doi:10.1093/heapol/czw020
Lu, Y. C., Walker, R., Richard, P. & Younis, M. (2019). Inequalities in poverty and income between single mothers and fathers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(1): 135. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17010135
Luong Hy V. (2016). Gender relations in Vietnam. In Kato, & Endres, K. W. (2016), Weaving women’s spheres in Vietnam: the agency of women in family, religion and community. Brill.
Morgan, R., George, A., Ssali, S., Hawkins, K., Molyneu, S., Theobald, S. (2016). “How to do (or not to do)… gender analysis in health systems research. Health Policy Plan, 31(8):1069-1078.
Nguyen, K. D. (2017). The study of the life and wellbeing of poor aged migrant women who have experienced violence in inadequate housings in Xuân Đỉnh, Hanoi. Unpublished.
Nguyen, X. & Mitchell, C. (2014). Inclusion in Vietnam: An intersectionality perspective on girls with
disabilities and education. Childhood, 21: 324-338. doi:10.1177/0907568214524459
Nguyen, B., Albrecht, J. W., Vroman, S. B. & Westbrook, M. D. (2007). A quantile regression decomposition of urban–rural inequality in Vietnam. Journal of Development Economics, 83(2): 466-490. Oxfam. (2016). Gender stereo types against female leader in Vietnamese media. https://cngcdn.oxfam.org/ vietnam.oxfam.org/s3fspublic/file_attachments/Full%20Report%20EN.pdf
Oxfam Vietnam. (2021). Gender equality and women’s agency. https://vietnam.oxfam.org/what-we-do/gender-equality-and-women%E2%80%99s-agency
Schuler, Anh, H. T., Ha, V. S., Minh, T. H., Mai, B. T. T., & Thien, P. V. (2006). Constructions of gender in Vietnam: In pursuit of the “Three Criteria”. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 8(5): 383–394. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691050600858924
Status of Women. (1996). Gender-based analysis: A guide for policy-making. http://www.pacificwater.org/ userfiles/file/IWRM/Toolboxes/gender/gender_based_analysis.pdf
Ray-Ross, S. (2012). Gender analysis. USAID/Vietnam. Summerfield, T., Young, L., Harman, J. & Flatau, P. (2010), Child support and welfare to work reforms: The economic consequences for single-parent families. Family matters (Melbourne, Vic.), 84: 68-78.
Thu, L. (2000). Implementation of the global platform of action for the advancement of women in Vietnam. Paper presented at The 44th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), New York, 29 February.
Tran Thi Minh Thi. (2016). Divorce prevalence under the forces of individualism and collectivisms in “shortcut” modernity in Vietnam. In Kato, A. & Endres, K. W. (2016), Weaving women’s spheres in Vietnam: The agency of women in family, religion and community. Brill.
World Health Organization (WHO). (2020). Incorporating intersectional gender analysis into research on infectious diseases of poverty. https://www.who.int/tdr/publications/year/2020/tdr-intersectional-gender-toolkit/en/
UNDP. (2016). How to conduct a gender analysis. Bureau of policy and program support. Gender team. UNDP. (3 June 2013). Women’s representation in leadership in Vietnam. https://www.vn.undp.org/content/ vietnam/en/home/library/womens_empowerment/Womens-representation-in-leadership-in-Viet-Nam.html UNDP. (2021). Gender inequality index (GI). https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/thematic-composite-indices/gender-inequality-index#/indicies/GII
UNRISD. (2006). Gender and social policy in a global context: Uncovering the gendered structure of “the
social”. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Yuval-Davis, N. (2006). Intersectionality and feminist politics. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 13(3):
193-209. doi:10.1177/1350506806065752
World Economic Forum. (March 2021). Global gender gap report 2021. Geneva. https://www3.weforum.org/ docs/WEF_GGGR_2021.pdf
