Gender Inequality in the Vietnamese Legal Framework: From Formal Equality to Substantive Equality

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

This article examines the central paradox of gender equality law in Vietnam: while the right to equality has been relatively widely recognized in the 2013 Constitution and numerous specialized laws, gender disadvantages persist in labor, family, politics, education, technology, access to resources, and access to justice. The main thesis argues that Vietnamese law has established a fairly complete foundation for formal equality, as evidenced by the principle of gender equality, the prohibition of discrimination, and mechanisms to protect women. However, the current legal framework has not fully transitioned from the logic of "equal treatment" to the logic of "addressing actual disadvantages." The problem lies not only in the lack of regulations but also in the capacity of the law to identify, measure, and intervene in indirect inequality, gender stereotypes, unpaid care burdens, and power asymmetry. The article employs legal analysis, policy analysis, a human rights approach, and a comparison with the CEDAW. The contribution of this paper is to point out that legal reforms on gender equality in Vietnam need to focus on enforcement architecture, data, evidence, sanctions, and temporary special measures to move towards substantive equality.