Child sex tourism does not exist in Vietnam: official

• Trafficking of Vietnamese women for sex and marriage expands across region: expert
• Vietnam named as new child sex tourism destination

Ngo Hoai Chung, a senior official of Vietnam’s Administration of Tourism, firmly stated that child sex tourism does not exist in Vietnam. At present, Vietnam has detected only a few cases of child abuse by foreign tourists and expats. The statement emerged after the Bangkok-based NGO End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT) released a study on May 12, naming Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam as new child sex tourism destinations.

A poster against child sex abuse in Vietnam. Photo by VnExpress

According to reports delivered at a conference to summarize the five-year Child Protection Program from 2011-2015 in Vietnam, there were over 8,200 child abuse cases with 9,920 victims, up by 258 children compared to the previous five years.