Human trafficking in Vietnam

Over the past ten years, the trafficking of women and children throughout Asia has grown exponentially. Vietnam is no exception. The Vietnamese government estimates that at least 22,000 women and children were illegally sent to China during the 1990s.

In Vietnam, trafficking can take the form of arranged marriages that frequently result in the women becoming domestic slaves rather than wives. Other victims find themselves in the sex trade instead of the factory job they were promised. According to UNICEF, approximately 60% of the estimated 45,000 prostitutes in Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh, are Vietnamese.

It is often a lack of information and education that forces women into the unspeakable situations created by human trafficking. ActionAid supports projects across Vietnam that raise awareness of the dangers of trafficking and aim to show women that they are putting themselves in a dangerous position by agreeing to marriage or a new job they know nothing about.

ActionAid’s main partner in north Vietnam, the Women’s Union, has actively tried to stop the spread of trafficking. An important step has been education. Although 94% of the Vietnamese population are literate and school attendance rates are relatively high, people living in remote, mountainous areas such as Ha Giang are unable to read or write. The illiteracy rate is particularly high in ethnic minority communities such as the H'mong (88%) and Dao (75%). Women are twice as likely to be illiterate in these areas.

Together with our partners we have set up a project that helps women earn a living, making them less susceptible to dubious offers of jobs, money and marriage. Skills such as weaving, design, sewing and basket-making are taught. The women have formed their own production line, turning rough sheaves of grass into intricately designed handbags, cushion covers and cloths for sale at local markets. They are justifiably proud of all they have achieved.

actionaid in action
Nestled near the southernmost tip of Vietnam is Hoa Thinh village, where a group of enthusiastic women gather in a local meeting house. They are attending their monthly meeting to discuss and learn about the dangers of trafficking. Thirty-one-year-old Kim Thi Phu Vinh talks about what she has learned and can pass on to her daughters when they are older. "I have learned how to prevent being lured by someone; that often girls are sent to brothels and not given the work they have been promised," she says. "I will tell my daughters that if someone approaches them with an offer of a job or money, then they need to ask for detailed information, not just accept someone’s word for it. Things are not always what they seem."

Outside there is a little girl, ten years old, Son Thi Thien has been attending the group with her mother for the past six months. Already she has learnt what will hopefully protect her from traffickers. "If someone offered me money to go somewhere with them, I would tell them I don’t like money," she says simply.

With the right information and the confidence to use it, the future can be brighter for young girls threatened by what is fast becoming a global trade in people.

*The names in this article have been changed

photo : ©Jack Picone/ ActionAid