English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

A Gendered and Rights-Based Review of Vietnamese Legal Documents through the Lens of CEDAW
tourism and organized marriages, as well as the need for special attention for vulnerable and disadvantaged
groups of women especially women in prostitution. In relation to trafficking,
Concluding Comments on Viet Nam 2007 is specific in its recommendations; that is, systematic
data collection and analysis, increased information exchange, increased prosecution, improving
the economic situation of women, measures for reintegration, non-penalization of trafficked
women and ratification of the Trafficking Protocol. In relation to prostitution, Concluding Comments
on Viet Nam 2007 expressed concern on rehabilitation measures for victims of prostitution such
as administrative camps.
In view of this, the selected indicators focus on the existence of a prohibition on prostitution,
its details and sanctions, as well as measures in place to address the needs of women in prostitution.
They also look into whether there are legal guarantees in place to ensure that women in
prostitution are not discriminated against in accessing their rights.
PROSTITUTION
Prostitution is prohibited in Viet Nam. Articles 254-256 of the Penal Code punish harboring prostitutes,
procuring prostitutes and sexual intercourse with juveniles. Article 7 of the Law on Children
prohibits any act of seduction, deceit, trickery, harbouring or force that leads children into prostitution.
Article 4 of the Ordinance on Prostitution identifies the prohibited acts relating to prostitution.
The ordinance also provides that women in prostitution must, depending on the nature and seriousness
of their violations, be administratively sanctioned, subject to education at communes,
wards or townships, or sent into medical treatment establishments. Foreign women in prostitution
must, depending on the nature and seriousness of their violations, be administratively sanctioned
in the forms of caution, fine and/or expulsion. In this regard, it is recommended that persons in prostitution
must not be subjected to any form of sanction, penalty, involuntary rehabilitation or deprivation
of liberty and movement.
In relation to children in prostitution, mandatory procedures should be in place when children
are taken into custody, such as: (a) notifying immediately a designated social worker in the
state management agency for the protection of the childs rights, counselling of the child, etc.; (b)
escorting the child for immediate medical check-up; and (c) ensuring non-disclosure of the childs
identity, especially by the media.
To ensure that women in prostitution are not discriminated in accessing basic services, provisions
ensuring non-discrimination of these women must be specifically stipulated, especially in
the areas of education, health care, labour and employment. In particular, it must be clearly
ensured that rape and sexual assault cases against women in prostitution are not trivialized or
ridiculed but pursued accordingly.
SEX TOURISM
Although there is no specific naming of sex tourism as an offence in Vietnamese legal documents,
it may be covered by the provisions prohibiting trafficking and prostitution; for example, abusing
the service business for prostitution activities, organizing prostitution activities, and organizing
overseas tours to take Vietnamese women and children abroad for sex work or sale 6 . It is suggested
that, to ensure that appropriate attention is given to sex tourism, it must be specifically defined
and prohibited.
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6
Ordinance on Prostitution, Article 25; Directive on Sending Woman and Children Abroad
Executive summary