DSpace at VNU: At the intersection of gender, sexuality and politics: The disposition of rape cases among some ethnic minority groups of Northern Vietnam

SOfOUBN: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia Vo!. 23, No. 1 (2013), pp. 132-51
DOI: 10.1355/sj28-le
© 2013 ISEAS
ISSN 0217-9520 print / ISSN 1793-285B electronic

Research Note
At the Intersection of Gender,
Sexuality and Politics:
The Disposition of Rape Cases
among Some Ethnic Minority Groups
of Northern Vietnam
Nguyen Thu Huong

How is rape perceived and handled by members of the Dao and Hmong
minority groups in Lao Cai, a northem provinoe of Vietnam? How are
cultural notions relating to sexuality, female virginity and marriage interpreted,
played out and contested among victims' family members, their wider
kin networks, and the authorities responsible for upholding the law at
the grass-roots level? In particular, how is the social notion of honour
used as a patriarchal tool in influencing decisions about whether or not
to press charges against rapists or not? The results of fieldwork in Lao
Cai during 2007 are reported.

Keywords: gender, sexuality, rape, ethnic minorities, family honour, prosecution,
Vietnam.

During my fieldwork on rape in Vietnam's Lao Cai province in 2007,
local officials, mostly members of the majority Kinh' ethnic group,
often told me: "Well, they will talk to you. They have no qualms.
I'm sure you can do it." "They" here refers to members of two ethnic
minority groups, the Dao and the Hmong. Already aware of popular

tales of "free love" among Hmong and Dao youths of both sexes,
I was, typically, told by an informant, "these [Dao] girls do not know


At the intersection of Gender, Sexuaiity and Poiitics

133

whether they still have it [their virginity] or not".^ The implication was
that a young Dao female is entitled to unrestricted sexual freedom.
Another informant said, "Young Dao people are just like Westerners.
If they like each other they just do it as long as the girl doesn't get
pregnant. They do not care much about their future spouse's sexual
history."^ The general opinion was that, in such an environment of
"sexual freedom", there was no room for rape. There seemed to be
a causal association between the extent of sexual freedom among
Hmong and Dao youths and the apparently rare cases of rape. The
apparent absence of value traditionally placed on women's virginity
and chastity among members of these two ethnic groups — a topic
that will be explored below — led to the belief among such informants
that they did not view rape as a serious matter. This all seemed a far
cry from the experiences that I had had when conducting research on
rape victims among Kinh people in Hanoi. My peers and colleagues
had in fact expressed doubts as to the feasibility of such a project
in that latter context, because sex and especially rape are taboo
subjects among the Confucian-oriented Kinh people (Nguyen Thu
Huong 2012).
This research note explores the ways in which some members of
the Hmong and Dao peoples in Lao Cai province, a northwestern
province of Vietnam, perceive rape and manage its consequences.

Cases considered demonstrate that local understandings of rape
are played out among victims, family and kin members and local
cadres — the law enforcement authorities at the grass-roots level.
In examining cultural notions pertaining to marriage, sexuality, and
especially female virginity among these ethnic groups, I point out that
notions of family honour and economic considerations are prominent
in the management of the consequences of rape. Their prominence is
manifested in the ways in which a victim's family decides on whether
or not to press charges against the rapist.
Method and Sample

This note draws on an ethnographic study of a limited number of
respondents using open-ended interviews, life histories, and participant


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Nguyen Thu Huong

observation. The study formed part of my doctoral research in
2007 on rape among both the KinhA^iêt majority and some ethnic
minority groups in northem Vietnam. The cultural and social stigma
attached to rape among the Kinh meant that I approached prospective
participants through a counselling office, which provided a contact
address in the flyers distributed at the start of my research. The flyers
highlighted the purpose of the research, stressing the confldentiality
of personal information, the voluntary nature of participation and the
free counselling services of a non-governmental organization whose
main activities at the time focused on child sexual abuse.
In conducting the fleldwork among members of minority groups

in Lao Cai reported here, I relied on the assistance of a student who
had helped in the distribution of flyers for my pilot study of rape
victims in Hanoi in 2003. As luck would have it, in 2007 she was
working in the Lao Cai provincial cultural bureau and had close
contacts with members of different ethnic groups in the province.
I asked her to hand out flyers among local people when she travelled
to various districts in the course of her work. Through her contacts
I was able to cover five cases of rape, four of which involved women
and girls from three different Hmông and Dao villages and the flfth
case involving an adolescent Kinh girl.
Involvement with participants from ethnic minorities posed new
methodological problems. First was the language barrier, since the two
Hmông participants did not speak Vietnamese. Since I myself do not
speak Hmông, an interpreter was needed. Second, these participants
lived in an area officially referred to as vùng sâu vùng xa (Vn.: deep
and remote area'*) near the Vietnam-China border. Those who wished
to visit or carry out research in such areas generally required prior
permission from local authorities. I used a "top-down" approach to
secure authorization to conduct ñeldwork in this sensitive area. Having
obtained an official letter of introduction from my home university
in Hanoi, I contacted the person in charge of Lao Cai province's
Bureau of Culture, Sports and Tourism, who then made necessary
arrangements with district-level officials. These latter then instructed
the commune-level cadres to facilitate my fieldwork.


At the intersection of Gender, Sexuality and Politics

135

A middle-aged cadre of the internal affairs section of the district
People's Committee was assigned to accompany me throughout the
fieldwork, even though I had originally suggested that my former
student then working at the provincial cultural bureau would help
me out with the local scene. The local authorities told me that this
cadre, a Kinh himself, was best qualified to help me. He was both
knowledgeable about rape cases in the district and himself in fact
involved in delivering govemment support to "children in specific
circumstances" [Vn: trè em co hoàn cành âàc biet], including sexually
abused children.^ Moreover, I was told, it would not be wise for
two women to travel among the ethnic minority groups in a frontier
area often seen as nhgy cam [Vn.: sensitive] and ñiU of phúc tap
[Vn.: complicated] problems, both social and political. This man
turned out to be an excellent "research assistant" as well as a reliable
motorbike taxi driver without whom I could not have reached my
research destinations.
At the Hmong village, I found an excellent interpreter in the
person of a retired chairwoman of the People's Conimittee of the
commune who was proficient in Vietnamese. My fieldwork in the
two Dao communes was less challenging because my interviewees
there both spoke Vietnamese.
I relied on the help of experts on ethnic minorities in Hanoi in my
analysis of fieldwork data on the rape cases involving members of
the Hmong and Dao ethnic groups. These included a senior scholar
at the Institute of Anthropology, a Dao himself, who went through
the transcriptions of my Vietnamese-language interviews with the
Dao informants.
Morals and Customary Law: Family Honour and Bride-wealth
among the Dao

In Vietnamese jurisprudence, rape is defined as an act committed by
someone who, by means of violence or of the threat of violence or
by taking advantage of a victim's helplessness or by other means,
forces a victim to have sexual intercourse against her will. It carries


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Nguyen Thu Huong

a punishment of imprisonment for two to seven years (Article 111,
Chapter 12 of the 2009 Penal Code). Convicted offenders are barred
from taking up any positions of responsibility or performing certain
kinds of jobs (including some involving education and medical
treatment) for a subsequent period of one to five years. Terms of up
to twenty years or even life imprisonment may be imposed in severe
cases, as when victims suffer grievous bodily harm, perpetrators are
known HIV carriers, or victims die or commit suicide as a result
of rape.^
However, in real-life situations, fear of social disgrace resuhing
from public knowledge of rape can be so great that a victim's family
often shows a reluctance to contact the authorities or tries to treat the
incident as a private matter. What is at stake is the idea of "family
honour", which is inextricably tied to a young woman's eligibility
and desirability as a marriage partner. This idea obtains even in a
context in which virginity is not an important social factor, as in the
case of Dao people in Lao Cai.
An example is the case of "Yen", a fourteen-year-old Dao girl,
whose brother-in-law raped her and then killed himself later on the
same day.' Yen's father also suspected that her elder sister was abused

by another son-in-law later on. As the father told me.
We didn't report [the second rape to the authorities]. This would only
create trouble. [That's what] I told my wife. She also agreed we wouldn't
do it. Better to protect her honour. If this becomes known when she
grows up she will have difficulty fmding a husband.^

Yen's father added, however, that if his son-in-law had not killed
himself, apparently out of shame, he would have taken him to the
police. The incident happened around noon at the perpetrator's house,
after Yen had dropped by for a visit. She suffered severe injury,
ran home and was taken to the nearest hospital by her neighbours,
since her parents were away at the time. Yen was treated for serious
vaginal laceration with heavy bleeding. The case became known to
other villagers, but because of the suicide of the perpetrator there
was no prosecution.


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137

When confronted with another rape in this family of many
daughters — involving Yen's unmarried elder sister and yet another
brother-in-law — soon after the first, the father was trapped between
the need to seek help for his daughter's physical injuries from the
rape on the one hand and the desire to hide another scandal on the
other. He decided not to report the crime, realizing that this second
rape was too much for the family to handle. He would, that is, never
be able to find suitable husbands for these two daughters, and the
shame and dishonour would stay with them as long as they lived.

This case leads to the question of whether there is in fact no
emphasis placed on or "traditional value" attached to women's tiêt
khu-úpaí tiêt khôt [D.: virginity] among members of the Dao ethnic
group or in Dao society.
Researchers on Dao society, those who have studied the two
sub-groups of Dao Do and Dao Tuyén investigated in the present
research in Lao Cai (Pham Quang Hoan and Hung Dinh Qúy 1999)
and elsewhere (Ly Hành Sorn 2003), have reported that whether a
girl is a virgin has little bearing on her eligibility and desirability
as a prospective bride. Put differently, mien chàng mien xiá
[D.: premarital sexual relations] are not seen as shameful among
members of these sub-groups, and thus the virginity factor does not
play an important role in decisions concerning marriage.' My fieldwork
nevertheless suggests that Dao girls generally do behave according to
certain local norms of morality [D.: hi-iu diêm nhân long]. Ly Hành
Sorn, an expert on Dao culture and himself a member of this ethnic
group, has told me that local customs condemn mai ton gôi [D.: out-ofwedlock pregnancy] and that if this occurs the boy and the girl
concerned will have to get married [D: ép nàn buaphây thô-ô]. Dao
youth are thus not so casual in sexual relations as it might seem to
some outsiders. They may indulge in "free love", but this behaviour
is often based on a conscious choice: girls are picked for their skill
in weaving and embroidery, while boys are chosen for their good
character and physical attributes. The next step is to "officialize" the
situation by arranging for the two families to meet to assess whether
the boy's and girl's ages are compatible according to the locally used


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horoscope. Age compatibility is a sine qua non for a Dao marriage
to proceed. In its absence, the boy and the girl are free to look for
other spouses. The open attitude about female virginity allows the
leeway for them to start that search anew without affecting family
and kin relations.
Generally, Dao womanhood is subjected to certain restrictions
meant to protect the female's mai msiên [D.: reputation, honour] as
well as that of her family. Traditionally a Dao girl is considered a
symbol of her family's dignity and social status — assets that her
parents often use to attract eligible sons of local dignitaries, with an
eye on substantial bride-wealth. For most Dao groups, the marriage
custom of bride-wealth has implications beyond simply the economic.
The size of the bride-wealth is an indication of how "valuable" or
well bred the daughter is; it is her parents' emblem of honour for
all to see. On a more practical level, the timing of presenting and
receiving bride-wealth may constitute a means of meeting and adjusting
to labour needs. Dao newlyweds generally live with the husband's
family. But, if the girl's family needs labour for agricultural activities
or if the boy is poor, the girl's family would ask the boy to stay with
them temporarily and thus prolong the prénuptial period. It is worth
noting that the boy and the girl are not regarded as truly married until
the payment of the bride-wealth. Only after the boy is accepted by
the girl's parents and allowed to live under their roof is the couple
officially given the approval to sleep together (Ly Hành Son 2003).
Therefore, it is not uncommon to see couples with grown-up children
holding their wedding ceremonies. Apparently, this kind of practice is
a burden to those who have many sons, and it is not uncommon to
see parents start to save for the bride-wealth requirement as early as
their sons' tenth birthdays. Families with daughters need not worry

about this economic burden (Ninh Van Do et al. 2003). For this
reason, even though the Dao have a kinship system similar to those
of the Hmong and the Kinh, there is no discrimination against female
children in Dao families (Do Ngoc Tân et al. 2004).
In the two rape cases among the Dao that I studied, the social
notions attached to women's roles seemed to make their experience of


At the intersection of Gender, Sexuaiity and Poiitics

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rape more problematic because of their failure to meet the expectations
of a proper girl. Their sexual violation was different from premarital
sexual relations in the sense that the incidents were not kept in the
private sphere. The case of Yen was public knowledge because of
her need for hospital treatment for her grievous wounds and the
suicide of the perpetrator. As in the second case, reported in the
next section, there was in Yen's case no pregnancy. But both victims
were stigmatized as girls who "have failed". The two girls therefore
became mien xia tchâu quay mût tra-á [D.: devalued girls]. Because
of the rapes, their worth as ñiture brides was much reduced. They
were no doubt reprimanded (by their parents) for getting themselves
into such a situation. What is at stake here is the link between the
traditional practice of bride-wealth and a relatively high value that
Dao society places on female youth, which in turn has a bearing
on the experience of tchôm mien xia châu tiêt [D.: rape] and its
consequences.
Moreover, in Dao society the parents of a rape victim are often
barred from communal ftinctions such as performing the rituals to

launch a new crop season or representing the clan in negotiating
prénuptial arrangements. This downgrading of their social status,
together with the economic loss in the form of reduced bride-wealth,
is bound to affect parents' attitudes towards their own daughter.
That attitude might come to include resentment and bitterness. As
for the daughter, she might find herself subjected to nsa-ám tha-ám
[D.: heavy stress] for derogating family mai msièn [D.: honour] and
depriving her parents of a sizable source of income in the form of
bride-wealth. For instance, a woman who under normal circumstances
would be worth some 120 silver coins (usually presented in the form
of jewellery like necklaces, silver pendants, celestial crowns) might
as the victim of rape be given away for free.
To return to the case of the unreported rape of Yen's elder sister,
one can assume that her parents' efforts to keep the incident within
the family were meant to prevent the compromise of yet another
daughter's eligibility and opportunity for a good marriage, as there
was already a "devalued" daughter (in this case: Yen) in the family.


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As her mother put it, "We don't want to do [report] it to protect
our daughter's name. Anyway she's at the marriage age.'"^ Another
reason was the physical and economical weakness of the girls' father
and his fear of revenge on the part of his son-in-law, the second
rapist. If I reported this to the police I'd have to assemble all the
family members and tell them the whole thing. Otherwise he might
use violence. Then I wouldn't be able to defend myself I didn't

dare to challenge him. He threatened to beat me.... What could I
do? Look at my hands, they were crushed when a tree fell down
on me.... Now I can't even catch a chicken for my wife, let alone
fight against him."
These circumstances obviously influenced the family's decision
not to report the incident. The mother was well aware of the fact
that she might be blamed for the rape of her two daughters because,
in Dao society, it is expected that a respectable woman should know
how to raise her daughters properly (Ly Hành Son 2007). Given the
potentially overt lún va doa-á [D.: blame] that might come after the
disclosure, the mother preferred to deal with the abuse informally
rather than to seek external intervention. It was decided to keep
silent about the incident to protect not only the victim but also
other family members (mainly the other daughters) from the tu-ú va
doa-á [D.: social stigma] of rape. The case affirms the role of Dao
mothers in making important family decisions. It is in line with the
views of Mary Douglas (1991) and Ann Stoler (1989), according to
which women are made responsible for policing the moral-physical
boundaries of their families, in particular when it comes to women's
and girls' sexuality.
Data from my fieldwork show that the notion of "family honour"
and economic considerations (relating to bride-wealth) figure
prominently in the social management of rape incidents among members
of the Dao group. Families of rape victims often resort to customary
law using marriage as a form of restitution. In a way, the marriage
"resolves" everyone's problems: the victim gets a husband despite
being "damaged goods", the victim's family honour is salvaged and
with due compensation, and the rapist gets the wife he might desire.

At the Intersection of Gender, Sexuality and Politics

141

Negotiating Rape across Ethnic Lines: Financial Compensation

Another rape case studied in Lao Cai had an inter-ethnic character:
"Phi", an adolescent Dao girl was raped by a Kinh working in road
construction. Her father recalled what happened after the incident.
The next day we went to see the guy in charge of the construction
team where he [the perpetrator] was working, but the guy told us to
wait until evening. Evening came but he still didn't want to talk to us.
My family decided to contact the commune People's Committee. When
the commune police came, he [the perpetrator] confessed everything.
The commune police chief asked us, "How do you want to resolve this
case? If the case is referred to higher levels, it will be serious. This
guy has to go to prison." We thought, if we proceeded with the law,
other people would know, and it would be difficult for my daughter to
get a husband. We said, "It's best to solve it amicably. He has to pay
[compensation]. Then we will sign a statement sajóng we will not sue
him further. Not much, 10 million VND [US$650 at the time]. If he
doesn't agree, we will go to higher levels."'^

The complex and not always smooth relationships between upland
ethnic minorities and the majority Kinh through history (Salemink
2011, p. 28) may explain the arrogant attitude shown by the ofFender
and his boss in their reluctance to admit wrongdoing. They appeared
to be both economically powerful, as they were involved in a roadbuilding project, and culturally "superior", as they were members of
the Kinh majority. In this case, pohce involvement shifted the balance
of power between the rape victim and the assailant. This is an example

showing that, when it comes to solving "intemal" problems, the police
may stand up for local residents, because they may have a sense of
being part of the local community (cf Koh 2006).
Since the perpetrator was an outsider and someone of a different
ethnic background, recourse to customary law was ruled out. The
victim's family agreed to accept monetary compensation as an
altemative to bringing the ofFender to justice. As the rapist was a
construction worker involved in building a road that ran through a
Dao village, a "deal" was quickly stmck between the victim's family
and the project leader, who acted on behalf of the rapist immediately


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Nguyen Thu Huong

after the case was brought to the attention of the local authority. As
a result, the family of the victim eventually dropped the case, the
rapist was sent back home, and the project continued. Commenting
on the case, a middle-aged Dao man living in the same village told
me that, from his insider's vantage point, the offender could have
done better if he had apologized to the victim's parents and asked
to marry the girl. In this way he would have acquired a wife at
much less cost. He could always go quyên áo [D.: to divorce] her
later if things did not work out between them, the man added. Dao
customs are not stringent about i cô phây quyên [D.: divorce]. And
he would not have had to disburse such a big sum as compensation
for raping the girl. The reason given is that, once a girl is known
to have been tchom mien xiá châu tiêt [D.: raped], her family could
not ask for as great a sum in bride-wealth as otherwise, and will

thus mai xiá tchàu nhoàn [D.: sell their daughter at a cheap price].
This reasoning seems to be in line with the custom among Dao by
which forced sex is a culturally appropriate way of getting a wife
(Rimonte 1991).^^
Phi's story also demonstrates that the initial reporting of an
incident to the police is generally followed by the officer's decision
on whether to handle the case or not. Local officials do not base
their dealings with people simply on laws and rules; a considerable
amount of mediation occurs under everyday circumstances in Vietnam,
as noted in the urban context by David Koh (2006, pp. 15-20).
In this case it also occurred between the police and ordinary citizens
of ethnic-minority background in a rural setting.
It should be borne in mind that a plaintiff can contact either the
police in the location in which a crime occurs or the local police in
the area in which the plaintiff is officially registered (Article 101, 2003
Criminal Procedure Code). As gatekeepers to the judicial system, the
police play a crucial role in their ability to influence which offences
are officially reported, registered, investigated and turned over to
a prosecutor. While the authorities encourage the public to report
crimes, particularly more serious ones, in practice the system does
not work that way.


At the intersection of Gender, Sexuaiity and Poiitics

143

In this connection, it may be worthwhile to reflect on issues of
ethnicity as they relate to power differentials, local affinities, insideroutsider status and majority-minority subjectivities. The salient point
is that, while the police officer in charge of the case involving Phi

belonged to the Dao minority, a group that is — together with other
minorities — often regarded as less advanced, less developed, and
less civilized (cf Salemink 2011, pp. 30, 47), the alleged rapist
was a member of the majority Kinh group. The police officer found
himself in a position in which he had to defend the interests of
one of his fellow Dao villagers, while exerting his authority as an
enforcer of the law in dealing with a Kinh outsider. Opting for a
"negotiated settlement" instead of pressing a criminal charge seemed
to satisfy all parties concerned. By keeping the rape case off the
official record, the local police would lend credence to the official
view that instances of rape and other crimes were "under control"
in those sensitive dia ban trong diêm [Vn.: areas of special focus]
— a term referring to mountainous and remote areas inhabited by
minority groups. This sort of "all quiet on the border front" approach
would keep everyone happy. During my fieldwork in Lao Cai, one
local cadre said that authorities at the grass roots often denied or
played down the existence of "social evils" such as drug addiction
and prostitution in their communities."* Local authorities often tried
to divert my attention when I attempted to make inquiries about the
local rape problem.
A Question of Cian Honour: Deconstructing a Rape Case among
the Hmong

If, in a rape case, a settlement cannot be reached, the question of
"family honour" is at stake. This question may lead to a decision to
seek formal justice. In this sense, the act of filing a rape complaint
can be interpreted as a pragmatic response to protect the honour of
the family and the larger kin network. An illustration of how social
pressure affects the family is the case of "Hài", a twenty-two-yearold Hmong girl whose uncle was an important local official in Lao

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Cai. The incident occurred when Hài and her friend, nineteen-yearold "Thinh" were sleeping in a hut high up in a terraced rice field
late at night. Two fellow villagers sneaked in and raped them. After
trying to deal with the perpetrator informally without obtaining any
restitution, Hài's father decided to report her rape to the police. The
police however advised him that the case should be settled between
the families concerned. The offender meanwhile kept on insisting
that it was a case of mistaken identity, pointing out that the incident
occurred in the pitch dark of night. The offender's persistent denial
was seen as a challenge to the honour of Hài's family and clan. It was
a question of honour that required, as a last resort, redress through
the judicial system. Hài's father decided that he had no option but
to file a lawsuit. In the end, the two perpetrators were given prison
sentences of ten years each.
The social norms of Hmông people in Lao Cai are undergirded
by notions of tsangx muas [Hm.: shame] and plu [Hm.: honour]. In
Hmông society, saiz tsiv txax [Hm.: respect] from others is acquired
through age, knowledge, life experience, wisdom and education.
Hmông parents believe that if their children, and in particular their
daughters, are ziz nav txir hais [Hm.: obedient to parents] and are
seen as tsiv txax [Hm.: well-mannered] or xicz venhx [Hm.: gentle]
in the society, they will bring honour, pride and respect to their own
z/v nênhs [Hm.: family] and xênhv [Hm.: clan]. On the contrary, if
children behave badly and become tsijông [Hm.: bad people] they will
bring shame, disgrace and "a loss of face" not only to themselves but
also to their extended families and clans. By virtue of this correlation,

parents would say, "coax ua co cur tri muax plu saiz luôs te luœc"
[Hm.: Since you did such a thing I cannot face anyone anymore].'^
If someone in the community committed a wrongful act, people
would use such expressions as a warning to their own children: saiz
tulyuorr cao ma zzâuvjông tsi cha cur pôngzplu [Hm.: Look at that
guy. Do not make me lose face because of you].'^
Hmông females learn from an early age to cultivate their manners,
to show their tsiv txax [Hm.: good manners], which help uphold their
family's/î/w [Hm.: face]. Onefindsfrequentusage of these terms in the


At the Intersection of Gender, Sexuaiity and Politics

145

daily language of parents and clan members when they address their
children's sexual behaviour. Moreover, there is strong disapproval of
premarital sex for girls during courtship because nhuas mais lâul tsi
muax nênhs zuar [Hm.: a daughter's promiscuous sexual behaviour]
would bring pôngz plu [Hm.: loss of face] not only to her but also
to the good name and reputation of her parents and clan. If a girl
has a sexual relationship, particularly resulting in muax nhuas [Hm.:
pregnancy], it most often means that she has agreed to or will hâus
chuoT [Hm.: get married] as soon as possible to avoid gaining lao
jas pel yuar [Hm.: a bad reputation] and suffering the pôngz plu of
herself, her extended family and her clan.
Hmong youth in Lao Cai share with their Dao counterparts the
notion that a girl can come to be considered "dishonoured", whether
or not she is a virgin. Even though there is no explicit value placed
upon female virginity, Hmong have a strong distaste for "immoral"

things, in particular regarding zängl nul hais tsi lao [Hm.: matters of
sensitive nature] such as changr tkhaor der [Hm.: sex-related matters].
As regards the matter oí ua daos [Hm.: sexuality], Hmong consider
it as chair [Hm.: taboo], meaning that sexual activity is something
that only concerns the two parties. Some Hmong informants told
me that if someone happens to stumble upon or catch sight of the
spot (outside the house) where paul pair [Hm.: sexual intercourse]
has taken place, he or she can become ill. A common belief among
Hmong is that lao air [Hm.: the love spirit] could cause a swollen
foot or tuo vuv (literally meaning "a crazy foot") to those who have
accidentally set foot in such a place. An ua nênhz [Hm.: shamanic
ritual] ceremony is usually held to determine the cause of the person's
illness and to provide payment, in the form of sacrifice, to lao air.
Usually chickens are used as sacrificial offerings in such a ceremony.
It is common to see forest fanners trying to stay away from places
which appear to have "abnormal" signs such as a trampled patch of
grass. In fact Hmong youth tend to be very discreet in matters of
love and sex. When I interviewed them, they tried to avoid discussing
sex-related matters and showed a strong resistance to revealing their
intimate relationships to others.


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In the case of Hài, the Hmông girl who was raped by a fellow
villager, her image as "damaged goods" was reflected not only in
the loss of her virginity, if such was the case, but also by the fact
that her victimization involved zängl nul hais tsi lao, meaning in

this case a matter of a sexual nature. Disclosure brought the risk
of social stigma not only to the girl herself but also to her clan,
which included an uncle who was a bi thu xä [Vn.: secretary of
the commune People's Committee]. It created the risk that people
would say that Hài's parents had failed in raising their children. As a
consequence, the parents would suffer a loss of face, and their status
in the community would be affected. The status of the whole clan
would also be in jeopardy. People would comment that with such a
powerful uncle, Hài's family could do more to bring the culprit to
his senses. These were the reasons behind the initial attempt to deal
with the incident informally. Nevertheless, seen from the Hmông's
collectivistic perspective (Sandage et al. 2003) the offender's persistent
denial of his crime constituted an offence to the honour of Hài's
family and kin. The only altemative was to seek legal intervention.
As Hài's brother explained, "They will say that such an influential
uncle [as a local cadre] wouldn't do a thing for his niece. That would
reflect badly on my uncle."'^
In the context of Hmông society, clan membership is the source
of identity. It serves a management function and is also a binding
force among people (Symonds 2004). Kin members are obliged to
help one another in such tasks as settling disputes with outsiders,
solving debt problems and above all upholding the clan's reputation.
Hài's family had no choice but to bring the case to the judicial system
with the aim of seeking the toughest sentence for the perpetrator. At
stake was not only the honour of Hài's family but also her uncle's
social and political prestige. For, people might ask, if an influential
figure like her uncle could not bring such an outrageous case to a
successful end, what could powerless ordinary citizens expect in similar
circumstances? This example helps to emphasize that the process
of rape prosecution is often linked with the idea of family honour,

assumptions about kinship, social belonging and shared responsibility


At the Intersection of Gender, Sexuaiity and Poiitios

147

in a coUectivist society such as that of the Hmong in particular and
in Vietnam in general.Conclusion

In understanding cases of sexual violence among some minority
groups in northem Vietnam, scholars must consider factors relating
to personal relations and ethnic background. In each of the cases
of rape victims interviewed in the course of the research reported
here, local officers involved were from the same ethnic group as the
plaintiffs. Their initial reaction as law enforcement agents was to try
to effect peaceful settlements between the parties concerned through
the time-honoured custom of seeking compensation, thus bypassing
the cumbersome application of the formal law of the land. Cases like
these have led to an explicit notion that crimes of rape among ethnic
minority populations in northem Vietnam are a matter for private
prosecution (Ekstrom 2003). In other words, if the woman or her
family withdraws the charge, legal authorities may not pursue the
case. Rape is thus primarily perceived as something that concems the
victim and her family, rather than as a serious crime. These peculiar
situations often make room for reaching a compromise between the
contending parties. A considerable amount of mediation occurs in
the aftermath of the incident, an example of what Koh labels as the
"penumbra" of the state-society relations in Vietnam (2006, p. 2).
Local officials do not base their dealings with people on laws and

mies alone, leaving ample space for manipulation.
Seen from a broader perspective, however, the practice of law
enforcement in rape cases is not so straightforward. It often concems
power dynamics, the outcome of which is usually mediated among
three sets of actors: the victim and her family, the perpetrator and his
family, and the local authorities. This interaction takes several forms,
notably coercion, resistance and negotiation. From the cases reported
and analysed in this research note there seems to be a mismatch
between a concem for the harm done to the individual victim and
the need for legal redress on the one hand, and notions of honour


148

Nguyen Thu Huong

that have more to do with family interests — for example, victims'
eligibility or desirability as marriage partners and of bride-wealth
— on the other.
In linking these research fmdings with the large body of work
on sexual violence against women, my emphasis has been on
aspects relating to family and kin relations and everyday community
interactions. Efforts to settle rape cases through negotiation and
family and kin perceptions of the social consequences of a rape
involving one of their members illustrate the importance of notions
of family honour. These notions play a prominent part in the disposition of rape cases among members of the Dao and Hmong
ethnic minorities of northem Vietnam. My analysis of the crucial
role of the family in dealing with the consequences of rape, which
sees individuals' needs subsumed within broader family interests
may have relevance in other social and cultural contexts. In its emphasis

on the importance of ethnic and cultural differences in dealing with
rape in a non-Western society, my research may have relevance to
the field of sexual violence. This in turn may highlight blind spots in
existing literature and assist in developing new perspectives in rape
research in increasingly multicultural Westem societies.
NOTES
An earlier version of this research note was presented at the intemational conference
on "Localizing Global Justice: Rethinking Law and Human Rights in Southeast Asia",
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University, New York, 4-5 November
2011. The author is thus gratefixl to the Open Society Foundation for making her
attendance possible and to the conference's organizers Duncan McCargo and Kristy
Kelly and its other participants for their insightful feedback.
1. In Vietnam the term "ethnic" [dân tçc] usually refers to members of ethnic
minorities, i.e., the fifty-three officially recognized ethnic minorities, whereas
the Kinh or Viet people are seen as neutral (devoid of ethnic content) and hence
as the standard agamst which all ethnic deviations are measured (Salemink
2008, pp. 264-65).
2. Interview, Lao Cai, 10 September 2007.
3. Interview, Lao Cai, 5 September 2007.


At the intersection of Gender, Sexuaiity and Poiitics

149

4. For a vivid discussion of the notion of vùng sâu vùng xa, see Salemink (2011,
pp. 29, 47).

•

• •

5. In accordance with Ministry of Finance circular number 112/2004/TT-BTC
(issued 24 November 2004) regarding guidelines for the management and use
of the Vietnamese Children's Protection Fund.
6. For a detailed treatment of the legal aspects of rape in Vietnam, see Nguyen
Thu Huomg (2006).
7. All personal names are pseudonyms. This is to protect the anonymity of the
participants in this research project.
8. Interview, Lao Cai, 29 September 2007.
9. This is in contrast with the "first-night" nuptial ritual commonly practiced
among Kinh people to ascertain the bride's virginity.
10. Interview, Lao Cai, 30 September 2007.
11. Interview, Lao Cai, 29 September 2007.
12. Interview, Lao Cai, 16 September 2007.
13. The practice of marrying ofiF a rape victim to her rapist is indigenous to many
Asian and Pacific Island cultures. It persists to this day in many rural areas
in Southeast Asia (Rimonte 1991) and China (Luo 2000). Freeman (1983)
views rape in Samoa as part of a cultural strategy used by males to obtain
marriage partners; victims of rape are so ashamed that they prefer silence or
eventual marriage to the rapist rather than public exposure as non-virgins.
14. Interview, Lao Cai, 12 September 2007.
15. Interview, Lao Cai, 28 September 2007.
16. Interview, Lao Cai, 28 September 2007.
17. Interview, Lao Cai, 10 September 2007.
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Nguyen Thu Huong is a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology, Vietnam National
University, 336 Nguyen Trai Road, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi, Vietnam; email: huongethno®
gmail.com.


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