Viet Nam
Child Prostitution
Although prostitution is illegal, it has become more and more rampant on the streets of large Vietnamese cities. Child prostitution is continuously growing. Today, there are approximately 40,000 child prostitutes in Vietnam, who earn on average 10 dollars per encounter.
These children work in grocery stores or restaurants during the day, then afterwards are sent out by the owners of these establishments to work as prostitutes.
Frequently the business of prostitution extends beyond the borders of the country. Many children are victims of trafficking and are sent to different countries to be sexually exploited. In Cambodia, for example, a third of all prostituted children come from Vietnam.
Street Children
According to estimates, more than 65,000 children roam the streets of the major cities of Vietnam, including 7,600 in the capital and more than 18,800 in Ho Chi Minh City.
This phenomenon has not escaped the notice of the authorities, who try to hide the troubling reality during large public events by rounding up these street children and holding them in social centers for the duration of the event. Numerous campaigns of arrests have evidently been carried out by authorities in recent years, and many children have experienced ill-treatment over the course of their arrest and confinement.
Child labour
More than 16% of children aged 5 to 14 work. Legally, the minimum age to work is 15 (18 for dangerous jobs), but there are exceptions for certain types of work such as traditional sports and artistic activities.
Some children work in traditional craft villages, seasonal businesses, and doing restoration work. Despite being legal, the working conditions at many of these jobs is inappropriate for children, with long hours and very taxing work.
Most children who work are recruited for illegal labor such as prostitution, soliciting, or selling drugs and other illicit materials.
Stateless and Invisible Children
In Vietnam, 12% of children are not registered at birth. Some unmarried women do not register their child out of shame, or wrongly believe that children born out of wedlock cannot be registered.
Somewhat less than half of families fail to register their child within the legal time limit. The Vietnamese authorities abolished the penalties for registering late and extended the deadlines in an effort to decrease the number of stateless children. Currently, the deadline is set at one month from birth in the plains regions and two months in the remote regions and the high mountainous plateaus.
Children of Minorities
The minorities who live in the mountains and in conditions of extreme poverty have little access to education, firstly because they live too far from schools and secondly because the language of instruction is Vietnamese, a language they do not speak. Also, their parents often are not aware of the importance of education and health.
Child Prostitution
Although prostitution is illegal, it has become more and more rampant on the streets of large Vietnamese cities. Child prostitution is continuously growing. Today, there are approximately 40,000 child prostitutes in Vietnam, who earn on average 10 dollars per encounter.
These children work in grocery stores or restaurants during the day, then afterwards are sent out by the owners of these establishments to work as prostitutes.
Frequently the business of prostitution extends beyond the borders of the country. Many children are victims of trafficking and are sent to different countries to be sexually exploited. In Cambodia, for example, a third of all prostituted children come from Vietnam.
Street Children
According to estimates, more than 65,000 children roam the streets of the major cities of Vietnam, including 7,600 in the capital and more than 18,800 in Ho Chi Minh City.
This phenomenon has not escaped the notice of the authorities, who try to hide the troubling reality during large public events by rounding up these street children and holding them in social centers for the duration of the event. Numerous campaigns of arrests have evidently been carried out by authorities in recent years, and many children have experienced ill-treatment over the course of their arrest and confinement.
Child labour
More than 16% of children aged 5 to 14 work. Legally, the minimum age to work is 15 (18 for dangerous jobs), but there are exceptions for certain types of work such as traditional sports and artistic activities.
Some children work in traditional craft villages, seasonal businesses, and doing restoration work. Despite being legal, the working conditions at many of these jobs is inappropriate for children, with long hours and very taxing work.
Most children who work are recruited for illegal labor such as prostitution, soliciting, or selling drugs and other illicit materials.
Stateless and Invisible Children
In Vietnam, 12% of children are not registered at birth. Some unmarried women do not register their child out of shame, or wrongly believe that children born out of wedlock cannot be registered.
Somewhat less than half of families fail to register their child within the legal time limit. The Vietnamese authorities abolished the penalties for registering late and extended the deadlines in an effort to decrease the number of stateless children. Currently, the deadline is set at one month from birth in the plains regions and two months in the remote regions and the high mountainous plateaus.
Children of Minorities
The minorities who live in the mountains and in conditions of extreme poverty have little access to education, firstly because they live too far from schools and secondly because the language of instruction is Vietnamese, a language they do not speak. Also, their parents often are not aware of the importance of education and health.