Trinhlienhuong’s Weblog

Democracy and Human Rights: The Danish Cartoons Controversy: Should there be Absolute Freedom of Speech?

On 30^th September 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published a series of caricatures including those of Prophet Muhammad, a holy figure of Islam. Some of the caricatures depicted the Prophet in association with terrorism. A few months later, some other newspapers in France, Italy, Germany and Spain reprinted the cartoons to show their refusal to make allowance for the anger of Muslim people. This action caused further hostile reaction from Muslim people and government of Muslim predominant countries. Some countries such as Jordan or Yemen called back their ambassadors. Violence aimed at some Western countries’ embassies and people took place. While the Danish government stated that they would protect freedom of speech to the end as well as some European countries refused to punish the editors of those domestic newspapers, some Muslim predominant countries charged domestic editors who reprinted the cartoons in their newspapers. There has been a controversy over whether those editors should be accused or not.

In a broader view, from the perspective of democracy, this is the controversy over whether there should be absolute free speech and expression or not. Should governments and laws set some limits to individuals and organisations’ freedom of speech?

Defenders of the publication of the cartoons strongly believe that free speech must be safeguarded in this case. Some Western countries’ governments stated that they would protect freedom of speech and expression even when it is found insulting by some religious groups. As a staunch advocate of free speech, Human Rights Watch holds a viewpoint that religious beliefs should not be excluded from public debate as the speech is about ideas, not incitement or even advocacy of violence.

I do think that the matter should be analyzed in relation to public welfare, one of the key factors of which is peace. Respect for others’ cultural and religious beliefs is of great significance in maintaining peace in the world. However, world peace and harmony have always been an Utopian dream of humankind. In fact, in human society, conflict is naturally inevitable. The conflict between the Muslim world and Western world is one of the key conflicts in world politics.

In my opinion, part of the matter of maintaining peace and handling conflicts lies in how people express their views. In choosing an expression, they should carefully weigh the possible consequences. Is it sensible when personal thoughts and attitudes are expressed in a way that eventually leads to pointless suffering of the community? In fact, the publication of the cartoons by Jyllands-Posten has raised waves of violent protests against Western countries, causing tens of mortalities. Also, it has damaged diplomatic relations between Denmark and some Muslim predominant countries. Another possible but controversial consequence of the publication and reprinting of the cartoons is further implantation of the association of Islam with terrorism, which shows discrimination against the Muslim. Anyway, this has remarkably exacerbated the tension between the Muslim world and Western world.

While I agree that free speech should be protected to a large extent, I still hold a view that individuals and organisations should not be allowed to make use of the freedom in an irresponsible way. Indeed, governments and laws should play a role in setting some limitations on free speech in case the expression indicates discrimination or is likely to exert negative effects on community welfare. However, in many cases, it is hard to anticipate the consequences or prove a clear causal relationship. This leads to a dilemma: the one who has made the speech may cite these reasons to defend their action against government’s accusation. The case of the Danish cartoons is typical of the dilemma.

Reference:

-          BBC News. 2006. “Muslim cartoon row timeline”.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4688602.stm

-          Human Rights Watch. 2006. “Questions and Answers on the Danish Cartoons and Freedom of Expression: When Speech Offends”.

http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/02/15/denmar12676.htm

War and Terrorism: The Social Impact of the use of the Agent Orange by the US Army in Vietnam War

From 1962 to 1971, the US army had sprayed 72 million litres of a kind of herbicide named the Agent Orange over 3.6 million hectares of forests and villages in the Central and South of Vietnam from aircrafts, trucks or by hand. It was estimated that 17 million people in the South and 1 million from the North were directly exposed to the Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. However, the exact number of the Agent Orange victims in Vietnam from generation to generation has not been calculated. ( Le and Johansson 2001).

It is over 30 years since the Vietnam War ended; yet the Agent Orange’s consequences still continue to make Vietnamese people suffer. A positive association has been proved between the Agent Orange and some illnesses such as soft tissue sarcoma, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Hodgkin’s disease (Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides, Institute of Medicine 2004). The dioxin, a component of the Agent Orange, has been discovered to cause birth defects in animals and human. As well, this poison has destroyed tropical forests and animal habitats, eroded coastlines and contaminated the soil in the areas. It is undeniable that this weapon of mass destruction has exerted tremendous effects on the ecology and health of many generations of the Vietnamese. Indeed, there have been many scientific research studies on the ecological and health impacts of the Agent Orange used by the US army in Vietnam. However, from sociological perspectives, I do think that the social impacts of the use of the Agent Orange in Vietnam War on individuals, families and society should be further examined.

In the first place, both individuals who were directly poisoned by the herbicide and their descendants are miserable victims. Many veterans and people who were fighting and living in the contaminated areas are now in poor health conditions, threatened by serious illnesses such as cancer of various forms. Their working capacity has been lost or considerably limited. Furthermore, as the dioxin is highly likely to cause birth defect in animals and human, most of these people’s descendants are born with malformations of different kinds and levels of severity, for example: conjoined twins, cleft lip and palate ( Le and Johansson 2001). Many are born to be mentally disabled, too. The tragedy of these children is that despite their existence, they have been stolen a meaningful life since their birth. For many, their physical body or mental capability or both do not develop with age. Some even make little sense of their existence in this world. This means that they have also been stolen with innumerable opportunities in their lifetime: education, working or getting married.

In the second place, in Vietnam, the victims’ families suffer from the consequences of the chemical as well. As mentioned above, the direct exposed victims and their descendants are in poor health conditions and so their working capacity is lost or limited. In this way, their families are under high risk of poverty as they must carry the burden of taking care of the victims who would else be capable earners. Another misery of these families is that day by day, they witness the stolen lives of their children at the same time the end of family continuation. In Vietnam society’s traditional perspective, children are considered the continuation of the family as they will get married and reproduce and take the responsibility of earning as they grow up. In another words, they take over the continuation of life and wealth of the family from generation to generation. Therefore, to Vietnamese families in which every child is invariably born to be physically and mentally handicapped, they are reaching a tragic endpoint.

In the third place, the society are also to pay significant costs. Poor health prevents victims from joining labour force or reduces their labour productivity. Another cost is paid to provide welfare services for victims such as treatment, nursery and special education.

In conclusion, besides observable ecological and health consequences, I am convinced that the use of the Agent Orange during an over ten year period by the US army in the Vietnam War has exerted long-lasting social impacts on individuals, families and society in our country. These damages still cannot be calculated exactly as the tragedy has not yet come to an end.

References:

-         Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides, Institute of Medicine. 1994. Veterans and Agent Orange: Health Effects of Herbicides Used in Vietnam – Executive Summary.

http://books.nap.edu/catalog/2141.html

-         Le Thi Nham Tuyet, Annika Johansson. 2001. Impact of Chemical Warfare with Agent Orange on Women’s Reproductive Lives in Vietnam: A Pilot Study. Reproductive Health Matters, Vol. 9, No. 18, Images of Sexuality and Reproduction: Services: Meeting Women’s Needs.

-         http://vietbao.vn. 2007. Phu luc 2: Noi dau xuyen the ky ( 2^nd Index: The Transcentury Misery).

http://vietbao.vn/Van-hoa/Phu-luc-2-Noi-dau-xuyen-the-ky/40218020/184/

-         www.scienceclarified.com. Agent Orange.

http://www.scienceclarified.com/A-Al/Agent-Orange.html

Crime and Globalisation: Are poverty amid wealth and dislocation the main causes of increasing trend in youth crime in Vietnam?

In the book Global Problems: The Search for Equity, Peace and Sustainability, Scott Sernau states that poverty in the midst of wealth, dislocation and unemployment in the urbanization process are the main factors that cause a considerable increase in street crime and youth violence. A wave of juvenile delinquency is in fact happening in Vietnam. However, I wonder if this situation can be explained as a consequence of urbanisation or there are other significant reasons for it.

Actually, some Vietnamese children are becoming ever dangerous. According to the statistics of the Supreme People’s Procuracy of Vietnam, in 1986, the number of juvenile delinquents was 3,607. By 1995, it tripled to 11,726 cases and even increased eight times to 28,470 in 2005. In these cases, youth criminals have involved in various kinds of crime: robbery, assault, rape and even homicide. For example, last May, two secondary school children kidnapped and killed a five year old boy who was a culprit’s cousin. In 2007 and 2008, several cases of secondary school children stabbing their schoolmates to death for reasons of personal conflict have been recorded.

In my viewpoint, some facts should be noted about these cases. First, most of the youth criminals belong to self-established gangs of youth. Second, while many criminals are children who live in rural areas or were born into low-income families, a remarkable number of others are those who live in suburban areas and whose families are well-off. Thus, to those of the latter group, factors such as poverty amid wealth and dislocation do not seem to be good explanations but there should be another cause.

From my point of view, the matter can be looked at from the angle of socialization and social interactions. In the second chapter of the book Ten Questions: A Sociological Perspective, Joe M. Charon defines socialisation as the process by which representatives of society teach people the ways of society and thus form their basic qualities. He also states that socialisation is lifelong and ongoing. Born into a particular society, an individual invariably interacts with other members of society right from his childhood. It is during these continual interactions that the individual develops his personal qualities and patterns of behaviour.

The theory of socialisation and social interactions can be applied in many cases of Vietnamese youth criminals. Instead of poverty amid wealth and dislocation, I recognise the effects of the family and the media as two of the main causes of the increase of youth crime in Vietnam.

In the first place, I do believe that behind a guilty child is a family problem. The problem may be domestic violence. According to the result of the First Investigation into Vietnamese Families issued in 2008, violent actions have happened in 21.2% of Vietnamese families. A possible impact of domestic violence on children is that they are likely to develop violent behaviours in their current and future lives. Also, the problem may be parents’ involvement in activities of social evils such as drug abuse or gambling. Those parents not only take little care of their children but may also be unwanted bad models for them to imitate. Another problem that is less remarkable but equally disastrous is the fact that parents are so involved in earning or working that they nearly ignore their children. According to the above investigation, 21.5% of fathers and 6.8% of mothers spend no time at all taking care of their children mainly because they are too busy with their work. Modernisation, industrialisation and globalisation generally bring Vietnamese people a wider range of profession, more job chances and higher levels of income; yet, the workload and pressure of money earning are becoming heavier. More hours in the offices, factories or businesses often mean fewer hours at home. This explains why many children commit crimes though their parents’ incomes are relatively high.

In the second place, the media is partly to bear responsibility for the growth of youth crime in Vietnam. Fifteen years ago, the Vietnamese had little idea of the Internet and cable television. That was also the time when the rate of youth crime in Vietnam was very low. However, in the last ten years of booming development in Vietnam, along with bringing great convenience in communication and information, the Internet has made it ever easy to access pornography, violent games and clips. As well, illegal massive production and reproduction of VCDs and DVDs are nearly out of governmental control; thus, pornographic and violent movies are easily accessible. Without parents’ control, curious children are likely to approach those and be negatively affected by those evil sources. I strongly doubt if secondary school children themselves can think of the idea to establish gangs of youth to dominate the schoolmate community, readily using violence to “get rid of the enemies” or a detailed plan to kidnap and kill the victim without seeing movies on gangsters or “courageous heroes”. In a broader view, it can be seen that the impact of the media to form children’s criminal behaviours is indeed the impact of the process of cultural, informative and technological globalisation.

In conclusion, in my opinion, the growing trend in juvenile delinquency in Vietnam is mainly caused by family problems and evils of the media. However, while I am unconvinced that dislocation and poverty amid richness as the consequences of urbanisation and modernisation are main reasons for this phenomenon, I still think that globalisation and modernisation cause the trend by taking parents away from their children and making unhealthy media accessible to children.

References:

-         H. Nga. “Cảnh báo xuống cấp đạo đức học đường” (“Alert of moral degradation at school”). CAND online – Cơ quan ngôn luận của Bộ Công An (The Official Mouthpiece of the Vietnam Ministry of Police).

http://www.cand.com.vn/vi-VN/xahoi/2008/7/95802.cand?SearchTerm=đạo%20đức%20học%20đường

-         Joe M. Charon. Ten Questions: A Sociological Perspective. 6^th edition. Wadsworth. 2007.

-         Minh Tien. “Đằng sau những vụ án động trời” (“Behind awful cases”). CAND online – Cơ quan ngôn luận của Bộ Công An (The Official Mouthpiece of the Vietnam Ministry of Police).

http://antg.cand.com.vn/vi-VN/phongsu/2008/6/66480.cand?SearchTerm=vị%20thành%20niên

-         Scott Sernau. “Global Problems: The Search for Equity, Peace and Sustainability”. Pearson. 2006.

-         Supreme People’s Procuracy of Vietnam. “Statistics of Juvenile Delinquency”. 2007.

-         Vietnam Ministry of Culture, Sports and  Tourism, Vietnam General Statistics Office, UNICEF Vietnam, Vietnam Academy of Family and Gender. “Ket qua dieu tra gia dinh Viet Nam” (“Result of Investigation into Vietnamese Families”). 2008.

Gender and Family: What are the Causes for the Prevalence of  Domestic Violence against Women in rural areas of Vietnam?

My father’s native land is a rural village in the Middle region of Vietnam. In the village, most of my close paternal relatives, including my father’s siblings, have settled their lives since their childhood. Of the five brothers and sisters of my father’s, the two aunts have experienced most miserable lives.

The elder aunt is a secondary school teacher. Among villagers, she is considered one of the best educated women. However, at home, she is frequently cursed and sometimes beaten by her husband. As well, she hardly dares to argue with him or go against his words even when it is not her fault.

The younger aunt is a peasant. Though she is only over fourty, she looks as if she were nearly sixty with a skinny body, pale skin and many ceases on the face. Her husband is a tough man, at the same time an alcoholic and a gambler. Since they got married, my aunt has constantly suffered from violent blows of her husband, some of which were so cruel that she had to go to hospital for treatment. However, she has hardly attempted to get divorced but endured the situation for nearly twenty years.

My two aunts are not the only victims of domestic violence against women in Vietnam rural regions. In fact, domestic violence against women has been taking place in all rural regions of the country. According to a research article by Nguyen Dang Vung et. al (2008), Intimate partner violence against women in rural Vietnam -

different socio-demographic factors are associated with different forms of violence: Need for new intervention guidelines, 31% of women in rural areas of Vietnam have been victims of physical domestic violence; while 33% have been both physically and sexually abused. Though I cannot find the statistics for domestic violence in urban areas, I do think that these rates for rural areas are significant. They equal to the rate of domestic violence against women worldwide, which is 33% (UN, 2006).

In my viewpoint, domestic violent against women in rural regions of Vietnam has specific reasons which are in close relation with local contexts.

The root cause for the situation, in my opinion, is patriarchy. Patriarchy is a system in which men have dominant power over women. Patriarchy is supposed to date back to the era when human entered the New Stone Age with an improvement in labour productivity. Physical strength of men was essential to production in agrarian economy and protection of the community. Through history, the institution has evolved in different trends in different cultures and civilizations.

In Vietnam, the influence of patriarchy in society is remarkably strong, especially in rural communities. During a thousand years of dynastic history, Chinese culture had exerted powerful impacts on Vietnamese culture and this influence is still in existence in modern days. The Confucian ideology, which is one of the key elements of Chinese culture, bears some strict principles of women’s responsibilities in society. For example, women are supposed to follow The three subjections: daughter to her parents, wife to her husband and widow to her children. Families in rural areas of Vietnam all have strong faith in these principles. In this case, it is understandable why patriarchy is so deeply entrenched in rural communities in Vietnam.

There are various manifestations of patriarchy in Vietnamese rural communities that are closely related to domestic violence against women. Firstly, the man has dominant role over the woman and children in a family. Though many rural women now can earn money as well as her husband, rural men still maintain their role as breadwinners. With physical strength, men can also provide some basic domestic materials such as shelter construction and carpentry for his family. This economic dominance means that the man is the one whose voice bear utmost weight in family matters such as financial control or decision making. Secondly, discrimination against women is prevalent in rural communities. Going back to the case of my younger aunt, there has been no intervention of her husband’s family or neighbours though they live in very close proximity. In fact, to many people in rural areas, violence is legitimatised as a way for the man to discipline his wife. Another factor is the resigned nature of many Vietnamese women in their relationships with men. Their resignation, combined with the strong influence of traditional principles in which women are supposed to maintain a harmonious atmosphere in the family, makes them endure violence with little strong resistance. This is totally true in the cases of my two aunts.

Besides patriarchy, there are some other reasons for domestic violence against rural women in Vietnam.

Economic hardship, in many cases, leads to violent actions of men. A considerable number of families in rural areas of Vietnam are currently in poverty or even extreme poverty. The matter becomes worse in families in which men are involved in alcohol abusing or gambling. The heavy pressure of poverty added by negative mental and psychological conditions of drunkards or desperate gamblers results in the sufferings of women in those families.

Low level of education among people of both genders should also be included. Rural people in Vietnam in general have by far less access to decent formal education than those in urban areas. Poor education is likely to lead to a misconception of gender roles among many rural men and women. To many people, masculinity is identified with violence and femininity with resignation and obedience. However, this misconception is also found among urban people. As well, self protection skill against violence is unfamiliar to most rural women.

In conclusion, patriarchy is the root cause of the prevalence of domestic violence against women in Vietnam rural areas. Other factors such as economic hardship and poor education exacerbate the situation. Searching for the solutions to this problem, organisations and concerned individuals should have a thorough understanding of the causes typical of the social context in rural regions of Vietnam.

References:

-        Nguyen Dang Vung, Per-Olof Ostergren and Gunilla Krantz (2008). Intimate partner violence against women in rural Vietnam – different socio-demographic factors are associated with different forms of violence: Need for new intervention guidelines?. BMC Public Health.

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/8/55

-         United Nations (2006). In-depth study on all forms of violence against women: Report of the Secretary-General

http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/61/122/Add.1&Lang=E

-          WHO (2006). World report on violence and health

http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/factsheets/en/index.html