English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

CEDAW and the Law:
treatment and health rehabilitation and respect the honor, dignity, life and properties of prostitutes
brought into their establishments”. This is applicable to women in prostitution aged 16 or
older, who have been subject to the application of education at communes, wards and district
towns or have not yet been subject of this measure but have no given residences. 332
Procedures for the execution of this are provided in Articles 93-101 of the Ordinance on
Administrative Violations.
Article 10 of the Decree on Prostitution Ordinance provides that particular socio-economic
measures must be put in place: “(2) To organize medical treatment, education, vocational
training and to create jobs for reformed sex sellers; to provide difficulty allowances or
create conditions for them to borrow capital, to advise and guide them on production and/or
business methods so that they can have stable incomes. (3) To apply financial and tax preference
policies for establishments which provide medical treatment, job training or create jobs
for sex sellers or business establishments where reformed sex sellers work.”
The Viet Nam Women’s Union at all levels from 1997 to 2001 has been involved in the
monitoring and management of 7,375 women who were in prostitution. Loans were provided
to 5,737, and jobs were created for 1,058, of the women. From 2002 to May 2004, 2,345
women were given loans or provided employment. 333
Although not specifying children in prostitution, Article 40 of the Law on Children identifies
sexually abused children as ‘children in special circumstances’. Their care is primarily
organized by their families or alternative families, otherwise by child support establishments. 334
The tasks of the child support establishments include counselling, medical examinations and
treatment, detoxification services, rehabilitation, physical and mental health-care services,
moral education, integrated education, special education and vocational training, employment
services, social, cultural, sport and recreational services, and care and nurture. 335
Women who are exploited through prostitution are subjected to many forms of abuse,
whether physical, emotional, psychological or financial. Hence, a broad range of procedures
and services for these women is needed to be able to address fully their needs.
Recommendation: It is recommended that persons in prostitution, especially
women in prostitution, must not be subjected to any form of sanction, penalty, involuntary
rehabilitation or deprivation of liberty and movement. Placement in institutions,
including education or rehabilitation facilities, must always be voluntary and subject to
the person in prostitution giving prior informed consent to the placement, as well as to
an assessment of her needs by a social worker.
164
It is also recommended that clearer criteria for distinguishing which acts are subject
to administrative sanctions and to criminal liability be provided. A review of legal
documents shows that child prostitution-related offences do not at all times reflect the
gravity of the offence being committed against a child, as distinguished from adults,
engaged in prostitution. In this regard, it is suggested that in aggravated sanctions, in
particular, criminal liability be considered in all cases that involve child prostitution.
332
Ibid.
333
Viet Nam Women’s Union Report, p. 38
334
Law on Children, Article 41
335
Ibid., Article 48
Review of key legal documents and compliance with CEDAW