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Vietnam

Regarding the number of Vietnamese women who are victims of sexual exploitation, many civil society stakeholders testify to significant differences between the official estimates provided by the government and the reality. Nguyen Xuan Lap stated in a press interview on March 28th, 2018 that according to data from 2017, there are 15,000 prostituted persons in Vietnam, 25% of whom are men. According to the University of Human Sciences in Ho Chi Minh City, to try to reach the actual figures, one must multiply any published official figure by ten. The University reports that it has counted almost 10,000 cases of prostitution in the city’s karaoke bars alone (AAT, 2017). In Vietnam, prostitution mainly takes place outdoors. The NGO AAT estimates that 30% is indoor prostitution (coffee shops, bars, brothels) and 70% is outdoor prostitution (public gardens, parks, streets). Men, women, and children, the latter representing 10% of the victims, are involved into prostitution in Ho Chi Minh City, and while 19.3% come from the city, the majority (80.7%) comes from rural areas. These prostituted persons, who come from the poorest and most vulnerable environments, are prostituted in the streets, in parks, and sometimes even on sidewalks in plain sight. Students of the capital are more likely to be involved into prostitution in coffee shops or in karaoke bars.