The signatures were gathered from March 13 to 16.

Child abuse on the rise in Vietnam

The GBVNet has sent a petition to National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, National Assembly’s Legal Affairs Committee and National Assembly's Judicial Committee to express their concern about the rising child sexual abuse cases in Vietnam.

The petition cited a report from the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security as saying that the number of child sexually abused cases between 2010 and 2013 has nearly doubled from 857 to 1544 cases in 2014. The figures indicate about 1,000 children are sexually abused every year, or every 8 hours, at least one child is sexually abused. Victims are even killed to cover up evidence or threatened to prevent allegations.  

GBVNet also studied 322 child sexual abuse cases reported by local media between 2011 and 2016, finding that 21.2% of the victims are being 10 years old, some even being only two years old. Meanwhile, 60% are aged between 11 and 25. Up to 32% of the victims were raped, robbed and beaten at the same time, while 13.5% of the cases were related to 3-5 culprits.

According to GBVNet, in reality, many cases of child sexual abuse in Vietnam, with obvious evidence were forced to go through reconciliation rather than criminal proceedings. The lack of tactical and sensitive procedures adds to the vulnerability and injury to the victims and their families.

GBVNet also takes the case of a 9-year-old child in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province sexually abused by an elderly man as an example. Though more than a year has passed, even with solid evidence, the case has yet been prosecuted.

A 13-year-old girl living in Ca Mau Province committed suicide last year after being sexually attacked many times by the neighbour. However, despite endless effort from the victim's family, the case has yet to be dealt by the local authorities. Most recently, an 8-year-old child living in Hoang Mai District, Hanoi, was sexually abused repeatedly by a 34-year-old man.