Trafficking of women and children In 3 provinces of Southern Vietnam

1. Trafficking of women and childrenIn 3 provinces of Southern Vietnam By Tran Thi Thu Hien

2. Content • Introduction • Rationale • Research questions • Research objectives • Conceptual Framework • Scope and Limitations

3. Rationale • Human trafficking, especially trafficking in women and children is a growing phenomenon, which is well associated with migration in the context of globalization and trade liberation in the world • In Viet Nam, many trafficking victims are impoverished children and women who have received little education and see few opportunities before them; have little access to information about the subtle tricks used by traffickers who bring children and women from rural and remote areas to cities and industrial zones for the purposes of labour and/or sexual exploitation. • Pull factor: A rosy picture of good life, earnings and other opportunities, without sufficient information on the risks that the trafficked women could meet, painted by the returnees or by the pimps about foreign countries which attracts young and innocent women to be deceived into trafficking

4. Rationale • It is estimated that more than two million people worldwide are being trafficked each year, the majority of whom are women and children. Within the Southeast Asian region alone, over 225,000 are transported across bordersUnofficial estimates say that there are as many as 15,000 prostituted persons in Phnom Penh, and that up to 35% of them have been smuggled into Cambodia from China or Vietman, mostly from the southwestern provinces of Vietnam (Long An, An Giang, Song Be, Kien Giang, Dong Thap, Can Tho and Ho Chi Minh City). • One third of 55,000 prostitutes in Cambodia are under 18 and most are Vietnamese. (World Human Rights Organization and UNICEF, "Vietnam Child Sex Trade Rising," Associated Press, 24 April 1998)

5. Rationale Can Tho – Statistics • 370 cases of women and child trafficking • repatriated 570 victims from sex industries abroad • 87,000 cases of marriage between Vietnamese women and foreigners.

6. Rationale • Hau Giang – Statistics96 confirmed cases of trafficking (90 young women and six children) from Hau Giang to Cambodia for prostitution. All 96 trafficking victims were repatriated to Hau Giang Province • 17,000 cases of marriage between Vietnamese women and foreigners

7. Rationale • Tay Ninh - Statistics :303 people were trafficked to Cambodia for prostitution • 800 cases of marriage between Vietnamese women and foreigners

8. Rationale – why the research is needed • The research looked at issues of trafficking in the context of migration • It is important to have a research to understand the situation of trafficked women and children in 3 provinces of southern Vietnam and in Cambodia to have appropriate intervention for supporting them and for trafficking prevention

9. Research Objectives • To learn about the situation of trafficked and migrant women and children at places of origin and at places of destination • To assess the interventions available/not available to them • To make recommendations to Government, NGOs like AAV on future programme interventions

10. Research questions • What is the situation of trafficked and migrant women and children in Vietnam and in Cambodia? • What appropriate interventions/recommendations for Governments, NGOs to prevent trafficking of women and children?

11. Conceptual Framework - definition • Definition of Trafficking: 'Trafficking in persons means ‘the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, or deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of giving or receiving or payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs;

12. Factors lead to trafficking Intervention to prevent human trafficking Conceptual Framework • Raising public awareness • capacity building, • information distribution, • community mobilization • advocacy, • and direct assistance via employment creation, skills training and credit provision Gender inequality Low education unemployment Trafficking Poor Family background

13. Scope • Place: Can Tho City, Hau Giang province, Tay Ninh province in the southern Vietnam because they are high risk migrant sending and receiving areas • Time line: 6 months • Target groups: women and children

14. Constraints of Research Trafficking in women and children is a sensitive issue, and very few people would admit they knew or had been a victim of trafficking. So it is difficult to have good interview results because: • first, few people have a comprehensive understanding of the depth of trafficking, • and second, admitted victims discussed the stigma and discrimination they felt they encountered from their communities.