English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

A Gendered and Rights-Based Review of Vietnamese Legal Documents through the Lens of CEDAW
Project 2: Combat of Trafficking in Women and Children; 318
Project 3:
Project 4:
Reception of and Support for Returning Women and Children Victims of
Trafficking; 319
Formulation and perfection of the System of Legal Documents concerning
Prevention and Combat of Trafficking in Women and Children. 320
The National Plan of Action Against Trafficking and four Projects in the Decision on
Trafficking 2005 are moves in the right direction. However, it must be noted that it is best to
contain many of these interventions in legislation rather than in a plan and/or project document,
especially one that only is applicable until 2010. In this regard, there is a need to reemphasize
in legislation interventions in these plan and projects.
Vietnamese laws also have specific procedures on protection, confidentiality, institution
and termination of cases, confrontation, and provisional emergency measures that are relevant
to cases of trafficking. For the relevant laws and recommendations, see Part V.1.3.3,
Indicator 10. Focusing on these measures is important to prevent victims being ‘re-victimized’
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Project implementation includes: (a) mapping the situation (for example, basic surveys, database, exchange of info); (b)
Preventing (including mobilizing the masses, paying attention to women and children in difficult circumstances, building close
coordination between people and administration, especially police and border guard in grassroots areas); (c) investigating and
handling of cases of trafficking in women and children (including to raise the effectiveness of investigation and prosecution and
trial of trafficking crimes, to take comprehensive professional and legal measures to detect and investigate trafficking, and to
pursue and arrest traffickers); (d) raising the legal capabilities of officials, police, border guards, Procuracies, and People’s
Courts in investigation, prosecution and trial of criminal cases of trafficking (including to compile training materials, to conduct
trainings, and to build police forces specialized in combating crime in central level and in key areas); and (e) international cooperation
(including enhanced cooperation on sharing information, granting papers, detecting forged papers). Key Implementing
agencies are MPS and Border Guard Command.
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The contents of the Project include: (a) reception and initial assistance for returning women and children victims of cross border
trafficking, including staying in the first place of reception for 15 days to carry out initial procedures such as create reception
records, check personal belongings, compile personal files, and conduct initial medical exam and treatment; (b) classification
and handing over of victims. Those identified as: (i) sex workers or drug addicts will be sent for medical treatment, education,
or social labour centers where they will enjoy regimes like those sent to State-funded medical treatment centers; and (ii)
identified as traffickers will be subject to investigation and prosecution; (c) financial support for returning victims including lodging
expenses, initial medical examination and treatment, clothes, travel expenses and meals until they return to their communities;
and (d) coordinated implementation when they return to their communities, including: (i) access to support and education
regimes to resettle and reintegrate into their communities, (ii) assistance in getting identity cards, registering residence,
receiving anti-illiteracy education, securing birth certificates and receiving education for their children; (iii) depending on circumstances,
maybe receiving land for farming or support for building houses; (iv) providing jobs for victims; (v) facilitating access
to loans through the Viet Nam Women’s Union at all levels; and (vi) provide allowances for returning women and children to
reintegrate into their communities. The key implementation agency is MOLISA.
The Project proposal points out that prior to the National Plan of Action Against Trafficking, there was no systematic way
of addressing reception of victims. In some areas, border guards have taken some initiative, such as providing meals, shelters
in border gates, travel fares to places of residence, conditions for getting people’s identity cards and registering permanent residences,
support for building dwelling houses. The Viet Nam Women’s’ Union provided guarantee in form of pledge of trust for
victims to borrow capital, but the number of victims who receive this assistance is still small. The system of policies and laws
on reception and assistance to returning women and children trafficked cross-border is almost zero.
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The activities of the Project include to: (a) review and assess the current legal system concerning trafficking in women
focusing on: investigation, prosecution and trial of traffickers; protection, repatriation and reintegration into communities
of victims of trafficking; prevention of trafficking; and international and regional cooperation against trafficking; (b) survey
practical enforcement of laws on prevention and combat of trafficking in women and children; (c) organize workshops
on perfecting laws against trafficking; (d) amend, supplement and promulgate legal documents on trafficking
against women and children, in particular to: (i) supplement and criminalize acts of trafficking, (ii) add aggravating circumstances
to trafficking, (iii) provide a uniform definition of the crime of ‘trafficking in women and children’; (iv) guide
the protection of the witnesses, crime denouncers, and victims; (v) handle illegal exits, illegal employment of minor
labourers or brokerage and organization of illegal sending of Vietnamese labourers to work abroad; (vi) repatriate and
reintegrate victims; (vii) introduce policies and regimes for returning victims; (viii) remove difficulties and obstacles in
legal procedures for civil status registration and application for birth certificates for trafficked women and their children
when they return to their communities; and (ix) enhance management of marriages and families involving foreign elements;
(e) study and update information on international law, including accelerate the ratification of the United Nations
Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and sign the Trafficking Protocol. The key implementing agency is
MOJ.
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Trafficking and exploitation of prostitution (Article 6 of CEDAW)