Sexual abuse of children has increased in Viet Nam, especially in tourist destinations, but criminal code of the country lacks a clause governing child sex tourism crimes directly, says a joint investigation of the Ministry of Justice and the Office of the United Nations on drugs and crime (Unodc).
The survey, conducted in August and September in nine provinces and cities, is part of a four-year project to combat sexual exploitation of children in the Mekong sub-region.
Speaking at a conference yesterday, said Deputy Minister of justice the Hoang Lien that increases in tourism not only brought enormous economic benefits, but also new challenges, including sexual abuse of children.
Both male and female children had victims of domestic and international child sex offenders, he said.
In the joint project with Unodc Viet Nam the Ministry and the agencies reviewed the legal framework to recommend amendments that coincided with international standards, he said.
Meanwhile, Zhuldyz Akisheva, country manager of Unodc Viet Nam Office, said that the poverty, the lack of sustainable livelihoods and the inequality between the sexes were among the factors contributing to the boom of so-called sex tourism involving minors in the sub-region including Viet Nam.
Viet Nam of the Penal Code, passed 11 years ago, had however many restrictions when it came to dealing with sexual abuse by travelling offenders, she said, stresses the need to change the code.
Most respondents to the survey do not understand what child sex tourism is, due to the lack of a working definition.
"This absence hinders agencies try to the scope of ' child sex tourism ' crime and makes it harder for them to collect statistics on these crimes, thus weakening the effectiveness of the fight against crime," said Nguyen Van dung, Deputy Director of the Ministry criminal law Division.
About 80 percent of the respondents in the surveyed cities and counties believed child sex tourism was larger, based on sex child statistics.
In addition, code 1999 uses two definitions-"child" and "young"-but both of these topics are applied only on principles of criminal liability, where they mean that younger citizens softer penalties than adult criminals.
On the basis of requirements of the code of criminal law and child-related laws, children are defined as people younger than 16 years. This definition differs from the fundamental international standard, those children referred to as less than 18 years old. This inequality is a major influence on cross-border cooperation to prevent and combat child abuse.
UNODC recommends to ensure that the law defines children to persons under the age of 18 years and the full range of protection for all children under this age threshold.
Regulations regarding sexual abuse crimes also have shortcomings, according to the representatives of the municipal people in southern can Tho city Procuracy.
In article 112 of the Penal Code, while those who commit different rape against children less than 13 years old in an organised manner be assigned penalties from 12 years in prison, persons who committed the same offence in similar circumstances against victims between 13 and 16 years received sentences of 20 years or higher.
According to the Supreme People's Procuracy, 2007 until 2011, investigating agencies at all levels prosecuted 6,500 cases of sexual abuse of children, charging almost 6,800 offenders. People's courts at all levels assessed 5,200 cases with 5,700 offenders. The perpetrators were not only indigenous residents; There was also a fast growing number of foreigners. According to the Ministry of public security, there were 50 cases where offenders foreigners between 2009 and 2011.
Post a Comment
Post a Comment