VietNamNet Bridge – Nguyen Thi Lan, a worker in Ha Noi's Bac
Thang Long Industrial Zone, has had three abortions.
The only birth-control measure
that she uses is the rhythm method, where previous menstrual cycles are
calculated to estimate the chances of fertility. Scientists have shown that the
method is not reliable.
She explained that she is afraid
of other contraceptive measures as she has heard they have negative
side-effects.
"Many old people told me
that inserting a coil would be dangerous and cause backache, stomach ache and
affect my menstrual cycle, while using morning-after pills would worsen my
skin."
Lan (not her real name) is not
alone in her beliefs. A survey released by the city's Health Department on
Monday shows that only 43 per cent of 1,120 surveyed female workers said they
are using birth-control measures. Of these women, more than 15 per cent
admitted that the measures they do use are withdrawl before ejaculation or the
rhythm method, which have both been proven to be unsafe.
Meanwhile, nearly 60 per cent of
the surveyed people said they have never heard about morning-after pills.
Nguyen Thi Van Anh, a health
department official, said that thousands of female workers are at a high risk
of suffering from reproductive health and sexual problems.
The surveyed people, who are
mainly are under the age of 30 years and have graduated from high-school, still
wrongly assume that contraceptive measures would bring negative impacts to
their health, she said.
Vu Thi Thanh Huong, director of
the city's Reproductive Health Care Centre said that females working in
industrial zones are more likely to be subject to sexual diseases or unexpected
pregnancy than those working in other sectors.
More than 13 per cent of the
surveyed people have had abortions.
Their situation becomes more
dangerous when they have abortions at illegal health clinics or treat
themselves using some kinds of drugs, she said.
The survey also showed that many
female workers are victims of sexual abuse by their husband or partner, and
nearly 45 per cent claimed to have never heard about the law on domestic
violence prevention and control.
Tran Thanh Thuy (not her real
name), a 28-year-old worker in Soc Son Industrial Zone said that she still
feels terrified when recalling the first time having sex with her husband,
which made her feel like she was being cut by a knife.
She later divorced from her
husband, who was violent, and has since stayed away from men because of her
fears.
More checks needed
Experts have said that female
workers need to seek specific consultancy from health services when facing
reproductive health and sexual related problems.
However, the only health workers
who are available in emergency cases in the industrial zones have no expertise
in the area of sexual health and are unable to give necessary support to female
workers, she said.
It is often difficult for women
living in industrial zones to receive this support because their employers do
not organise consultancies or reproductive health checks to take place in their
factories.
"They are afraid that these
activities will disrupt product management and working time, reducing their
turnover," said Huong.
Vu Thi Hoa, a worker in Dong Anh
Industrial Zone said it was impossible for foreign employers to allow workers
to use their working time to get information about reproductive health. Their
main priority is making a profit.
Lan agreed, and said she and other
workers get one general health check a year, and nothing more.
Nguyen Ngoc Quyet, director of
Duc Giang Consultancy Centre, said these employers should offer sufficient
health checks as if their employees have any worries about their reproductive
health their lack of certainty about the problem can obsess their mind,
distracting them from their work and negatively affecting their labour
productivity.
According to female workers and
experts, many women believe that reproductive health and sexual problems are
private and sensitive, and this is another cause preventing them from getting
the right knowledge about the issues that affect them.
Lan said that they often just
confide their problems with close friends, or secretly check at illegal
clinics. "It is too shameful to speak about these things publicly."
Anh said that the health
department is going to hold conferences for employers and health workers in
industrial zones in a bid to change their attitudes towards reproductive health
and sexual problems so that they can facilitate visits from relevant officials
who give free consultancy advice to their workers.
It is planned that nearly 2,000
female workers will be given the chance to discuss these issues with an
experienced and qualified health professional in the next three months.
Workers have suggested that these
services should be made compulsory in employment regulations in order for the
scheme to take effect. They added that they believe the consultancy meetings
should be held in residential areas, not at places of work.
VietNamNet/VNS
