Intimate partner violence: forms, consequences and preparedness to act as perceived by healthcare staff and district and community leaders in a rural district in northern Vietnam

Gender-based violence needs to receive attention from policy makers, and effective advocacy programmes are needed at all levels. In Vietnam, partner violence against women seems to be recognized at Government level. At community level, Women's Union staff and local reconciliation groups are prepared to act. However, the subject is surrounded by silence. We found that healthcare workers exhibited a lack of understanding of violence against women as a health problem in their own working environment.