Vietnam's Children

There are almost no words to describe the plight of the children in Vietnam. Over 41% percent of the population is made up of children – that's almost 32 million between the ages of 0 and 16 - and many of them are suffering in ways that are unimaginable.

Infant Mortality
Although Vietnam's progress on reducing infant mortality is impressive, it still has a very long way to go. The mortality rates are generally higher for ethnic minority groups than they are for the Kinh (Vietnamese) majority. In the central highlands of Vietnam, the Gia-rai report nearly 70 deaths out of every 1000 live births – that's around 7%.

Perhaps one of the most harrowing things is that newborn deaths account for almost half of all deaths for children under the age of 5, and nearly three-quarters of all infant deaths. However, because birth registration is not mandatory in Vietnam, these figures could actually be much higher. [1]

Child Abuse and Sexual Exploitation
The children of Vietnam grow up in a country that can sometimes be harsh and unforgiving. There are approximately 200,000 sex workers from Vietnam, and between 7.5% and 10% are children – that's nearly 20,000.

According to MOLISA ( Ministry of Labour - Invalid and Social Affairs (MOLISA) , around 20,000 women and children were trafficked from Vietnam to China over the ten year period of 1990 to 2000. In the last 5 years, it is estimated that approximately 5,000 more have been taken over to increase the number of sex workers.

27,000 Vietnamese sex workers are also currently working in Cambodia. 25% of those are children between the ages of 14 and 18.

Child prostitution is a crisis in Vietnam, and children are experiencing things they should never have to in their childhood. Their innocent years are being stolen away from them.

Children are usually brought from poor rural areas to economically advanced areas in neighbouring countries, especially China and Cambodia. Once there, they are deprived of their identity papers, denied their earnings, and are very often controlled with violence. [2]

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