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Inter-Agency Cooperation to Raise Awareness on Human Trafficking in Vietnam: Good Practices and Challenges

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Abstract

Awareness-raising tactics are arguably the first priority in the prevention strategies in Vietnam at present. Awareness-raising campaigns are implemented through two kinds of communication methods: community-based activities and mass media. Although anti-trafficking activities in Vietnam have achieved some successful results, recent evidence suggests that a lack of clear progress in the areas of trafficking awareness-raising still remains. The quality and extent of collaboration between authorised agencies are key factors in anti-trafficking activities, including raising awareness on human trafficking. However, to date, there has been no systematic research on inter-agency cooperation in awareness-raising activities in Vietnam. This paper first reviews the nature of human trafficking and legal framework on raising trafficking awareness in Vietnam. The paper then presents successes and challenges of current inter-agency collaborative activities undertaken to implement the awareness-raising strategies.

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Notes

  1. The law entitled Law on Human Trafficking Prevention and Combat, Law No. 66/2011/QH12, was passed by the Vietnamese National Assembly on 29 March 2011 and entered into force on 1 January 2012.

  2. National Plan of Action against Crime of Trafficking in Children and Women during 2004–2010 (Vietnam) attachment to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 130/2004/QD-TTg dated 14 July 2004;

    National Plan of Action against Human Trafficking period 2011–2015 (Vietnam) attachment to the Prime Minister’s Decision No 1427/QĐ-TTg dated 18 August 2011.

  3. Number of prosecution cases and identified victims in Vietnam

    Source: Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security year-end summation reports (2007–2016)

    Year

    2007

    2008

    2009

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    2016

    Total

    Cases

    369

    375

    395

    429

    458

    487

    507

    469

    407

    383

    4279

    Victims

    938

    981

    869

    671

    821

    883

    982

    1031

    1000

    1128

    9304

  4. The Penal Code 1985 (Vietnam) was approved by the Vietnamese National Assembly on 27 June 1985 and entered into force on 1 January 1986.

  5. The Penal Code 1999 (Vietnam) Law No. 15/1999/QH10 was approved by the Vietnamese National Assembly on 21 December 1999 and entered into force on 1 July 2000.

  6. Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of The Penal Code-Law No. 37/2009/QH 12. It was approved by the Vietnamese National Assembly on 19 June 2009 and entered into force on 1 January 2010.

  7. Vietnam has 58 provinces (in Vietnamese: tỉnh) and five centrally controlled municipalities existing at the same level as provinces (thành phố trực thuộc trung ương). The provinces are divided into districts (huyện), provincial cities (thành phố trực thuộc tỉnh) and district-level towns (thị xã). The municipalities are divided into rural districts (huyện) and urban districts (quận). The districts (including districts, provincial cities, district-level towns, rural districts and urban districts) are subdivided into commune-level towns (thị trấn), communes (xã) and wards (phường), which are generally named as “communes”. Each administrative unit is operated by a local government. For more information, see Law on Organizing the Local Government, approved by the Vietnamese National Assembly on 19 June 2015 and entered into force 1 January 2016.

  8. An artistic performance is a show in which government agencies used plays, songs and other types of art to describe trafficking cases, their consequences, anti-trafficking policies and other interesting messages. The actors and presenters can be anyone, including trafficked victims. The audiences include anti-trafficking actors, authorities and local residents, especially at-risk people. The performance can be live or via media.

  9. For more information, see the Centre for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies-Vietnam website:

    http://www.cres.edu.vn/vi/an-pham-xuat-ban/sach-xuat-ban-tieng-viet/mi-nm-phat-trin-min-nui-vit-nam-cac-vn-kinh-t-xa-hi-vn-hoa-va-moi-trng.html (accessed 19 March 2016).

  10. In Vietnam, primary education is compulsory for children aged 6 to 11, while secondary school is for children aged 12 to 15, and high school is for those aged 16 to 18.

  11. Examples of documentaries and columns include: “Investigation into transnational children trafficking networks”, “Lai Chau policemen investigated transnational human trafficking networks”, “Kidnapping of newborn babies at Hung Vuong hospital”, “Kidney trafficking networks at Hue hospital” and “Trafficking Vietnamese women to China for prostitution”.

  12. The hotline number is 18001567. The programme to establish this hotline was sponsored by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

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Funding

This study, particularly Tien Hoang Le, received scholarship from the Queensland University of Technology for doing PhD thesis (Student ID: 8720282).

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Correspondence to Tien Hoang Le.

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Author Tien Hoang Le declares that he has no conflict of interest. Author Kerry Carrington declares that she has no conflict of interest. Author Thanh Hung Tran declares that he has no conflict of interest. Author Thanh Phuc Nguyen declares that he has no conflict of interest. Author Trung Kien Le declares that he has no conflict of interest. Author Ngoc Ha Bui declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Le, T.H., Carrington, K., Tran, T.H. et al. Inter-Agency Cooperation to Raise Awareness on Human Trafficking in Vietnam: Good Practices and Challenges. Asian J Criminol 13, 251–274 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11417-018-9269-x

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