11 girls forced to become prostitutes to pay off debts

By Quoc Thang   December 21, 2022 | 08:27 pm PT
11 girls forced to become prostitutes to pay off debts
A sex worker waits for customers, as seen in a file photo by Reuters.
Eleven women, one as young as 14, who were forced into sex work by a husband-wife business couple, were rescued by the police in HCMC's District 12.

The police raided a hotel owned by Le Thanh Doan, 36, and Le Thi Hue, 32, where they found the girls being guarded by Vu Duc Hoang, 42, Vu Hoang Tan, 18, Pham Hoang Em, 34, and Vu Van Tuan, 28.

The latter four were arrested for trafficking people under 16 and the illegal arrest, detention or imprisonment of a person, the police said Wednesday.

Em said he was hired by Doan and Hue, who are husband and wife and owners of hotels and massage and karaoke parlors, to look for workers.

So he went to parlors in Can Tho City to look for women employees. He preyed on those who were in debt with their employees, offered to clear their debts on the condition they went to Saigon to work for Doan and Hue, for at least six months at VND7 million (US$295) a month.

If they wanted to quit early, they had to pay VND30 million.

He brought six girls to HCMC, including one aged 14, to Doan and Hue and received VND140 million.

The pair forced the girls to sign debt papers, and made them sex workers.

Doan got them to post nude pictures of themselves online to attract customers.

Tuan, Hoang and Tan were hired to guard them, and the girls only got to keep half the money they made from the sex work.

The police are looking for Doan and Hue.

 
 
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