Domestic violence is an intentional act of a family member that physically, mentally or economically harms or that could physically, mentally or economically harm other family members.

Domestic violence acts include the following:

• corporal beating, ill-treating, torturing or other purposeful acts causing injuries to one's health and life
• insulting or other intended acts meant to offend one's human pride, honor and dignity
• isolating, shunning or creating constant psychological pressure on other family members causing serious consequences
• preventing the exercise of the legal rights and obligations in the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren, between parents and children, between husbands and wives, as well as among brothers and sisters
• forced sex
• forced child marriage, forced marriage or divorce and obstructing freewill and progressive marriage
• appropriating, demolishing, destroying or other purposeful acts to damage the private properties of other family members or the shared properties of family members
• forcing other family members to overwork or to contribute more earning than they can afford and controlling other family members' incomes to make them financially dependent
• conducting unlawful acts to turn other family members out of their domicile

Domestic violence is an intentional act of a family member that physically, mentally or economically harms or that could physically, mentally or economically harm other family members. Therefore, the victim is another family member who is harmed by the domestic violence acts of his/her family member.

Article 1.2 of the Domestic Violence Law

The abuser is a family member who harms his/her other family members.

Articles 1.2 of the Domestic Violence Law

The concept of a civil protection order is not provided in Vietnamese law. During a court proceeding, one or multiple "temporary emergency measures" listed under the Civil Procedure Code No. 92/2015/QH13 (CPC) can be requested.

The temporary emergency measures' purpose is to resolve urgent requests from involved parties; protect lives, health and properties; collect and preserve evidence; prevent irreparable damage; and ensure dispute resolution and judgment enforcement.

Vietnamese laws do not have an exact concept of "cause of action." The Civil Code has a general provision on the legal basis of liabilities to damages. Accordingly, anyone who violates others' lives, health, honor, dignity, reputation, properties or other legitimate rights and interests will be liable to damages.

Per the Family and Marriage Law, parents' rights over their minor children can be restricted due to the following causes of actions:

• if parents are convicted of any crime that intentionally violates their children's health, life, honor or dignity or that severely violates their obligations of childcare toward their children
• if parents damage their children's property
• if parents have a corrupt lifestyle
• if parents solicit or force their children to do illegal or unethical things

Vietnamese laws do not have a definition of "marital rape." However, the Domestic Violence Law includes "forced sex" as a domestic violence act. Further, the Penal Code criminalizes rape in general, which is defined as "using violence or threatening to use violence or taking advantage of the victims' inability to defend themselves or using other measures to have sex against the victims' will" without any exemption for husbands and wives in a marriage. Therefore, as long as the abuser's act constitutes the rape crime as defined in the Penal Code, the abuser can be charged for the rape crime.