The trafficking of women and children from Vietnam - CEOP

NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED
them in exploitation. Traffickers often confiscate travel documentation belonging to victims
to prevent their return to Vietnam, and to suppress any thoughts of escape. This also
prevents victim identification by authorities, making it difficult to assign age or nationality to
the victim. Without such details confirmed, the victim is unlikely to be recognised as such.
Women and children trafficked into China are commonly threatened with violence if they do
not comply with their exploitation, be it prostitution or forced marriage. This process,
known as seasoning, usually happens in the initial stages of exploitation, when the victim is
most resistant. Those who resist are often threatened with a form of exploitation perceived
as more degrading or in a more remote area, further from the border (representing escape
and home). For example, those initially exploited in brothels or forced into marriage are
threatened with marriage to an older man. Those already in forced marriage might be
threatened with being sent to work in a brothel. If threats are not effective, victims will be
systematically raped and beaten. One 40 year old woman who was sold to a 63 year old
Chinese man initially refused to be his wife. Her trafficker told her that if she did not comply
he would place a bucket over her head and beat the bucket until she agreed. Victims are
also routinely subject to restricted movements greatly reducing the possibility of escape.
AAT stated that women and girls exploited in certain brothels had been tattooed as a sign of
ownership. This demonstrates how victims are often treated as a commodity rather than a
human being.
MOLISA reported even more extreme cases of violence used to ensure compliance. For
example one victim who was caught trying to escape had her hamstring cut with a knife to
prevent her from running away in the future. There was also a report where a non
compliant victim was murdered, cut into pieces and disposed of in a river. There are also
suspicions of murder and organ harvesting. These stories may be apocryphal, spread by
traffickers to instil fear in victims and coerce them into compliance. 37
Victims have been forced by traffickers to phone their families to reassure then they are
well and have legal work, so that relatives do not report family members missing and alert
the authorities.
37 AAT
Page 22 of 31