Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Viet Nam (Ratification: 2000)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous comments.

Repetition

Articles 3(b) and 7(2)(b) of the Convention. Use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution; effective and time-bound measures to provide assistance for the removal of children in the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and social integration; and application of the Convention in practice. The Committee previously noted that a Programme of Action to Combat Prostitution for the period 2011–15 (PACP) was approved by the Government through Decision No. 679/QD-TTg of 10 May 2011.

The Committee notes the Government’s detailed information pertaining to the implementation of the PACP. In this regard, the Government indicates that, between 2006 and 2011, the police conducted 182,656 inspections of various service providing establishments, and discovered 68,249 establishments that were violating the provisions related to prostitution, 12,563 warnings were issued, and 37,130 financial sanctions amounting to 103 billion Vietnamese dong (VND) were imposed. In addition, the police traced and raised 6,109 prostitution cases against 19,443 persons, including 4,113 pimps and brokers, 9,067 prostitutes, and 6,263 clients. The Government also indicates that the People’s Procurators have prosecuted a total of 3,455 cases of crimes related to prostitution against 4,585 persons, including 114 cases against defendants who were accused of buying juvenile sex.

However, the Committee notes that, in its concluding observations of 22 August 2012, the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) expressed its concern about the rise in child prostitution, the rise in the number of cases of child trafficking including, inter alia, for prostitution purposes, and the increasing number of children involved in commercial sexual activity, mainly due to poverty-related reasons (CRC/C/VNM/CO/3-4, paragraph 71). The CRC further expressed its concern that children who are sexually exploited are likely to be treated as criminals by the police, and that there is a lack of specific child-friendly reporting procedures. The Committee, therefore, urges the Government to intensify its efforts within the framework of the PACP to strengthen the capacity of the authorities in charge of applying the legislation against child prostitution, to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children under 18 years of age. It also requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that child victims of commercial sexual exploitation are treated as victims rather than as offenders. In this regard, the Committee also requests the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to remove children under 18 years of age from prostitution and provide them with the appropriate assistance to ensure their social integration through education, vocational training or jobs, and to provide information on the results achieved.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the near future.