Eliminate child marriage, promote gender equality

In recent years, the work of propagating and mobilizing gender equality, for the advancement of women, reducing the situation of early marriage and consanguineous marriage in ethnic minority areas in the province has received attention and direction from all levels, sectors and localities. Thanks to flexible methods, suitable to the characteristics of each region and each population group, people's awareness has been gradually raised, forming a civilized and progressive lifestyle in marriage.

At the end of November, at the forum “Aspiration to Reach Far” held at Yen Bai Ethnic Boarding High School, hundreds of students listened attentively to the story of Ms. Hoang Thi Ly, a Tay ethnic in Lang Giau village, Lam Thuong commune. Few people expected that this confident and bold woman in front of the crowd was once a shy girl, afraid of communication.

Ms. Ly said that at the age of 17, she got married. While her friends continued to study and expand their knowledge, she returned to the fields, gave birth and managed an uncertain life. Having had to leave her hometown many times to work , she understood more clearly the meaning of studying, of opportunities and the right to choose. When she returned to her hometown, overcoming the prejudice that ethnic minority women only take care of the kitchen and children, and cannot take care of important matters, Ms. Ly began to develop the economy, build a solid house for her family...

Amidst the students' enthusiastic applause, Ms. Ly said: "There is nothing women cannot do, especially in family life. If there is consensus, women can do it too. Let's change our dreams and change our lives together!"

Like Ms. Ly’s story, in all localities in the province, small but persistent changes are still happening every day. If in the past, many ethnic minority families thought that “getting married early” was normal, now more and more parents support their children to continue studying, only getting married when they are mature enough and have a stable job.

To achieve this transformation, along with the efforts of each individual, the role of socio -political organizations has been clearly promoted. In particular, the Provincial Women's Union is one of the leading organizations to effectively implement propaganda, mobilization, and eliminate prejudice, contributing to changing behavior in the community on gender equality, preventing and combating child marriage and incestuous marriage. In November 2025 alone, the Provincial Women's Union coordinated to organize more than 120 communication sessions on gender equality, attracting nearly 5,800 students.

Vice President of the Provincial Women's Union Tran Thi Thanh Thuy said: "Outside the school, many community models have been deployed by the Provincial Women's Union such as: "Women's group without early marriage", "Women's branch not giving birth under 18 years old", "Parents accompanying children club", "Gender equality action group". Some activities are staged in ethnic languages, legal knowledge competition, communication initiative exchange... to help people easily receive and remember".

In reality, the situation of early marriage and women under 18 giving birth occurs mainly in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions, leaving many consequences for both families and society. In order to effectively implement gender equality, prevent and combat early marriage and consanguineous marriage, all levels, sectors and localities have made many innovations in propaganda work in both content and form. In particular, the production of video reports reflecting the reality and consequences of early marriage in ethnic languages; slogans, leaflets, billboards, propaganda boards with images designed about the harms and consequences of early marriage and consanguineous marriage with simple, concise and easy-to-understand content have been promoted.

From 2015 to present, the Department of Home Affairs has compiled and published over 40,000 leaflets, desk calendars, question-and-answer handbooks on marriage and family, prevention and control of domestic violence, prevention and control of child marriage, and incestuous marriage; printed and published over 20,000 training materials; delivered over 400 reports, news, articles, skits, columns, and special pages; organized 60 propaganda sessions and training conferences, attracting 3,000 officials, members, and union members from ethnic minority localities in Tram Tau, Mu Cang Chai, Luc Yen, Si Ma Cai, Bac Ha, Muong Khuong, etc.

In addition, provincial agencies and units have coordinated to conduct surveys and build 17 new intervention models to reduce child marriage among ethnic minorities in communes with many cases of child marriage with over 3,000 members participating such as: "Border Guards accompany villagers to say no to child marriage and incestuous marriage"; "Youth say no to child marriage and incestuous marriage"; "Anti-child marriage", "Educating parents in child care and development associated with marriage and family"... At the commune level, 70 new models have been built and 199 pilot models have been maintained. The models and clubs are organized to meet periodically, regularly update new knowledge, and coordinate to organize propaganda on the implementation of policies and laws on preventing and combating child marriage and incestuous marriage.

Thanks to the synchronous participation, up to now, over 90% of ethnic minority people have access to appropriate information on progressive marriage and reproductive health. In the coming time, the province will continue to promote the role of socio-political organizations, strengthen communication appropriate to each target group, and attach responsibility to families, communities and local authorities. These synchronous solutions are an important basis for Lao Cai to gradually improve population quality, ensure social security and sustainable development in ethnic minority areas.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/day-lui-tao-hon-thuc-day-binh-dang-gioi-post888528.html