Prostitution in Vietnam

Last updated

Sex workers weaving and dancing in a re-education center in Ho Chi Minh City, 1980 Women in "reform school" for sex workers, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 1980.jpg
Sex workers weaving and dancing in a re-education center in Ho Chi Minh City, 1980

Prostitution in Vietnam is illegal and considered a serious crime. [1] Nonetheless, Vietnam's Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) has estimated that there were 71,936 prostitutes in the country in 2013. [2] Other estimates puts the number at up to 200,000. [3]

Contents

Sex workers organizations report that law enforcement is abusive and corrupt. [1]

MOLISA reported that in 2011, 750 prostitutes and 300 pimps were arrested. 251 businesses had their business licenses revoked for involvement in the sex trade that year. [4]

History

Đại Việt period

Cover of The Tale of Kieu (1967 reprint) in quoc ngu script ThuykieuTruyen2.jpg
Cover of The Tale of Kiều (1967 reprint) in quốc ngữ script

It is unclear when prostitution and other forms of sex work first appeared in Vietnam. Possibly the earliest depiction or mention of female sex work in Vietnam is in The Tale of Kiều (Vietnamese: Truyện Kiều), an epic poem written c. 1800 by celebrated Vietnamese writer Nguyễn Du. [5] The poem's story centers on the life of Thúy Kiều, a young woman living in mid-16th century Đại Việt who sacrifices herself to save her family. To prevent the imprisonment of her brother and father, she sells herself into marriage, unaware that her new husband is a pimp, who forces her into sex work. Despite the poem's focus on forced sex work, it remains popular and moving even for present-day readers, suggesting that sex work is not strictly taboo in Vietnamese society. [6]

The poem is set during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor of Ming China, at a time when Đại Việt was politically independent from China but asserted its membership in a shared, Confucian cultural world alongside China. [7] Unsurprisingly, the poem depicts a form of sex work that resembles Chinese courtesan culture. The protagonist, Kiều, is not just a provider of sexual services but also an entertainer, a performer, and a potential lover. This view of female sex work in Đại Việt, though fictional, complicates the assumption that sex work is necessarily or has always been a transactional exchange of sex for money. [8] The poem reveals a 19th-century understanding of sex work in Vietnam that is rooted in performative and affective, not just sexual, labor. [8] Its continued resonance suggests that this understanding of sex work persists in the present. [6]

Apart from the depiction of female sex work in The Tale of Kiều, scholars have found scant mention of the topic in other documents and texts from the Đại Việt period of Vietnamese history. This lacuna suggests that even if sex work was present, it was treated ambiguously by Đại Việt rulers. [9] To illustrate, the 1812 legal code promulgated by Emperor Gia Long of the Nguyễn dynasty, the most well-known of pre-colonial legal documents from Vietnam, does not contain any explicit prohibition of sex work, but it does contain a provision for punishing male court officials who visit ả đào singing houses, which have a reputation as historic sites of female sex work coupled with courtly entertainment. [9]

Colonial period

Overview

During the colonial period, female prostitution and other forms of sex work were not banned but instead heavily regulated by French authorities. The regulations focused heavily on encounters between the colonizing and the colonized (i.e., European men and Vietnamese women) leaving other kinds of sexual encounters and other forms of sex work, including ones involving native men or European women, unregulated. [10] Even then, there was plenty of clandestine or "black market" sex work that took place outside of the regulation system in the colonial period. [9] This situation is akin to that of the pre-colonial period, when sex work was regulated, albeit more loosely, and clandestine sex work also took place outside of the Đại Việt regulation system. [9]

The regulation of female sex work did not exist in a vacuum. Instead, it was part of the colonial government's general system of regulating carnal encounters between the European and the Vietnamese populations. As anthropologist-historian Ann Laura Stoler observes, sex work came to be seen as increasingly permissible when concubinage began falling out of favor with the government in the early 20th century. [11] [12] Concubinage, both in Indochina and much of Southeast Asia, was initially seen in the late 19th century as more conducive than sex work for stabilizing racial hierarchies and preserving public health, because it provided European men in the colonies with an opportunity to build interracial relationships outside of marriage that are stable and do not risk the spread of venereal diseases. [12] [13] However, concubinage produced mixed-race (French: métis) progeny whose identities were seen, increasingly in the early 20th century, as threatening to blur the boundary between colonizer and colonized and, thus, undermine racial hierarchies. [12] In that context, another historian notes that to colonial authorities, sex work became permissible or even preferable to concubinage, because it was seen as a loveless transaction; as such, it was highly regulated but not prohibited outright. [10]

Portrait of Vu Trong Phung, author of Luc Xi Vu Trong Phung.jpg
Portrait of Vũ Trọng Phụng, author of Lục Xì

Both colonial records and contemporary native reportages (Vietnamese: phóng sự) tend to frame female sex work in colonial Vietnam as a problem that was not only morally and medically improper but was also a microcosm of some larger problem or fear, whether it had to do with the ineffectiveness of French colonial governance or the decline of Vietnamese society. [14] A clear example of this framing can be found in Lục Xì, a classic reportage of sex work in colonial Hanoi, written in 1937 by Vũ Trọng Phụng, a renowned journalist and author of modernist Vietnamese literature. The work was originally published in a local newspaper (Tương Lai, 'Future') in a serialized format, before it was published as a book later in 1937. [15]

Phụng’s detailed study of the sex industry was only possible because Hanoi's officials wanted to showcase the city's ostensible success in dealing with sex work to journalists and writers like Phụng, which give him and his contemporaries unprecedented access in 1937 to the municipal dispensary (Vietnamese: nhà lục xì, lit. 'the look-see house') where sex workers were treated for venereal diseases. [15] However, sex work was by no means hidden from public view at the time, nor was the reportagePhụng’s first foray into writing about sex work, as he had just published a novel in 1936 (Làm Đĩ, 'Prostitute') with a fictionalized account of how an upper-class woman becomes a sex worker, written in the style of social realism. [15] Phụng’s view is not simply that sex work was immoral, but that the outsize presence of sex work in Hanoi was a symptom of larger problems—such as exploitative or ineffectual colonial policies, materialistic attitudes, poverty, and the spread of venereal diseases—which stood in stark contrast to French claims that Vietnam was prospering under colonial rule. [15]

On the other hand, the academic scholarship on the colonial period generally presents a view of female sex work as more than just an object of colonial regulation in the name of dealing with moral or medical impropriety, but also as an indication of the sex workers’ agency and a metaphor for the gendered and racial hierarchies that are at the heart of the colonial enterprise. Many sex workers chose this line of work because they wished to escape rural poverty, and the sex industry provided a viable professional opportunity for them to uplift themselves economically. [16] This sense of agency also compelled sex workers to ply their trade in the black market, outside of onerous regulatory requirements and the state's taxation regime. [9] At the same time, sex workers did not always make the choice of entering the profession freely; they might have turned to sex work out of sheer economic desperation or fallen victim to indenture or trafficking schemes. [9] [16] The fact that sex work was even a viable pursuit at all—that Vietnamese female sex workers would be patronized by European men—also had to do with the gendered and racial order in place at the time, which frequently cast Vietnamese women, in literary, visual, and epistolary depictions, as sexual objects for the European male gaze and desire. [10] [17] [18]

Regulations

In general, historians have observed that regulations pertaining to sex work in colonial Indochina frequently echoed and influenced similar regulations in France, as described and analyzed by French historian Alain Corbin. [10]

Tonkin
A dispensary nurse in Hanoi gives a lesson to sex workers on sexual hygiene, c. 1937. (From Luc Xi by Vu Trong Phung.) Hanoi dispensary nurse teaches sexual hygiene, 1937.jpg
A dispensary nurse in Hanoi gives a lesson to sex workers on sexual hygiene, c. 1937. (From Lục Xì by Vũ Trọng Phụng.)

Shortly after the establishment of Tonkin as a French protectorate, in 1888, the Hanoi Municipal Council put in place formal regulations on prostitution in the city. (Similar regulations had also been introduced in Haiphong in 1886.) The 1888 regulations include a provision for the official licensing of brothel houses; these licensed brothels (French: maison de tolérance) were the only places where sex work was permitted. [15] At the same time, sex workers had to register their names, ages, places of origin, and place of employment with the municipal police, who maintained an official register of sex workers. [15] Registered prostitutes were known in French as filles publiques, 'public girls' or filles soumises, 'submissive girls' (i.e., they have submitted to the regulatory regime), or in Vietnamese as có giấy, 'has papers'. [14] [15] The regulations also establish a municipal dispensary to screen sex workers for venereal diseases and house them for treatment if necessary—the same institution that would come to occupy the attention of Vũ Trọng Phụng in 1937. [15] In addition, the regulations expressly forbid the act of procuring, and dictate that only a woman could be the proprietor of a brothel. [14]

The Hanoi regulations were not set in stone: A modified set of rules, promulgated in 1891, permit independent sex workers (French: filles isolées) to be licensed to work at a location of their own choosing rather than only at a licensed brothel. [15] In 1907, municipal authorities created a separate "vice squad" or service des moeurs (Vietnamese: đội con gái) in the police force to deal with all matters relating to sex work, including the registration of brothels. [9] [14] Eventually, an extensive, uniform law governing sex work in all of Tonkin was promulgated by the protectorate's résident supérieur (resident superior) in 1921. [9] Besides instituting requirements for registration and regular health checks, and mandatory treatment if a venereal infection were to be discovered, the 1921 law also taxes sex workers’ incomes. [9]

The 1921 law, though ostensibly uniformly applied throughout Tonkin, was, strictly speaking, in force only in the French concessions—the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong, provincial capitals, and military bases—because the rest of the protectorate was indirectly ruled by the French through the Vietnamese emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty (Emperor Khải Định at the time). [9] (It has also been suggested that the special attention paid to military bases reveals that protecting the health of soldiers in the colonies was a key objective for regulating sex work and preventing the spread of venereal diseases in Tonkin.) [10] [14] This patchwork legal situation created many spaces of non-regulation that sex workers would flock to if they did not wish to submit themselves to a regulatory system that they deemed onerous and oppressive, thus creating a thriving black market for clandestine sex work in Tonkin in the interwar years. [9] The presence of this black market was something that colonial officials frequently worried about, owing to fears about the possibility, in their minds, of an uncontrolled spread of venereal diseases among the buyers and sellers of clandestine, unregulated sex. [9]

Cochinchina

Much less research has been done on the history of sex work during the colonial period in central and south Vietnam, compared to north Vietnam (Tonkin). Whatever details that have been uncovered by historians about the regulation of sex work in Cochinchina suggests great similarity with the situation in Tonkin. There exist provisions in an 1878 ordinance for the regulation of licensed brothel houses (maison de tolérance), the registration of sex workers either as attached to specific brothels or as independent filles isolées, and regular checks for venereal diseases (French: visite sanitaire) at the municipal dispensary, especially in Saigon and Chợ Lớn (which would merge with Saigon to form a single city in 1931). [16] Just like in Tonkin, the regulatory system was run by a specialized "vice squad" or police des moeurs of the municipal police forces.

According to police and court records from the Cochinchinese archives, proprietors of brothel houses, as well as sex workers themselves, were given short prison sentences of 15 to over 30 days for violating any of the regulations concerning the registration or regular medical inspection of sex workers. [16] In particular, clandestine sex workers—who refused to be subjected to registration and medical requirements—were targeted for harsh enforcement, due to the colonial government's public health fears about them spreading venereal diseases, both amongst themselves and to their European male clients. [16]

Japanese sex workers in Saigon, c. 1910 Karayukisan in Saigon.JPG
Japanese sex workers in Saigon, c. 1910

Foreign sex workers

Besides native Vietnamese women, the sex industry in colonial Vietnam also saw the participation of sex workers of other nationalities, including Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. [14] [16] Japanese women who traveled to other places to become sex workers are known as karayuki-san (唐行きさん, 'Ms. Gone-Abroad'). In Vietnam, the French word mousmé was used to refer to Japanese sex workers more specifically as well as all Japanese women more generally, which suggests either that most Japanese women in Vietnam at the time were sex workers or that Japanese women were always seen by the French in highly sexualized terms. [19] Perspectives on Japanese women in Vietnam at the time were also possibly affected by the 1887 publication of Pierre Loti's novel, Madame Chrysanthème , which has as one of its main characters a mousmé who marries a French naval officer stationed in Japan. [19]

Japanese sex workers were present from early in the colonial period: records show that the first mention of a Japanese sex worker in Cochinchina dates to 1883, while in Haiphong, it dates to 1885. [19] They were engaged in similar activities as their native peers, but they would typically offer their services in separate brothels and places of entertainment, or as independent workers. [19] Unlike their Vietnamese peers, many Japanese sex workers would start off being under the yoke of indenture to cover the cost of their journey from Japan to Indochina. [19] Officials saw the Japanese sex workers, in an Orientalizing manner, as allegories or representations of the Japanese nation or certain essentialized Japanese values. [19] The colonial authorities did not seek to prohibit Japanese women from sex work, but merely subjected them to the same registration and medical regulations that applied to Vietnamese sex workers. [19]

Japan exported prostitutes called Karayuki-san during the Meiji and Taisho periods to China, Canada, the United States, Australia, French Indochina, British Malaya, British Borneo, British India and British East Africa where they served western soldiers and Chinese coolies. [20] The French viewed Japanese prostitutes as cleaner than Vietnamese prostitutes, as almost like European women. Japanese prostitutes in French Indochina refused to serve Vietnmese (Annamese) men since they held Vietnamese in contempt as a servant race. [21] French men frequented both Vietnamese prostitutes and Japanese prostitutes in French Indochina. [22]

Japanese women called Karayuki-san migrated to cities like Hanoi, Haiphong and Saigon in colonial French Indochina in the late 19th century to work as prostitutes and provide sexual services to French soldiers who were occupying Vietnam since the French viewed Japanese women as clean they were highly popular. The Japanese prostitutes refused service to Vietnamese men. [23] [24] Images of the Japanese prostitutes in Vietnam were put on French postcards by French photographers. [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] The Japanese government tried to hide the existences of these Japanese prostitutes who went abroad and do not mention them in books on history. [32] [33] [34] Japanese prostitutes were also in other European colonies in Southeast Asia like Singapore as well as Australia and the US. [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41]

There was also a sizeable number of Chinese sex workers who were present in Vietnam at the time. Their clientele was likely more narrowly focused on the significant populations of Chinese men located throughout the Indochinese colonies then. [16] Significantly, an attempt in 1903 by the Saigon authorities to subject places that house Chinese entertainers to the same regulations as all other brothels in the city did not go well, as the Chinese Chamber of commerce in Saigon intervened to argue that the new regulations were dehumanizing as well as to force the authorities to refrain from imposing new regulations. [16]

Vietnam War period

During the Vietnam War (American War in Vietnam), a sex industry developed around American servicemen. [42] It has been estimated that the number of prostitutes in the country at the end of the war was between 300,000 [43] and 500,000, eighty per cent of whom are thought to have had a venereal disease. [44] Prostitutes congregated at bars frequented by GIs, [45] and by Vietnamese soldiers and citizens. They offered a variety of services. Some of the prostitutes became pregnant and a number of Amerasian children were born as a result. These children were ostracized and given the derisive name bui doi ('dust of life'). Often, these children were themselves forced into prostitution.[ citation needed ]

During the war, hooch maids would often clean up after the soldiers in their dwellings. One soldier described the maids as being, "...good Catholics who might flirt with you but would never date an American soldier." [46] At the same time it was not unheard of for maids to "keep the plumbing clean" for soldiers to earn some extra income. [47]

After the war the Vietnamese government introduced a rehabilitation program for former prostitutes. Despite this and the government's subsequent HIV/AIDS education program, economic development during the 1990s saw women from poor rural communities taking up prostitution with a new class of professional clients. [44]

The "Ordinance on Prostitution Prevention and Combat" [48] 2003 states:

Following complaints that Article 23.1 was in violation of the prostitute's rights, in June 2012 the "Law on Administrative Sanctions" ordered the release of all prostitutes and replaced "re-education" with fine between of the equivalent of $25 and $100. [3] [1] (About 1,300 prostitutes were in "rehabilitation’ centres" in July 2011 being "treated and re-educated’). [4]

Calls for decriminalization

A survey of 150 prostitutes by the Vietnamese government-run "Institute of Labor Science and Social Affairs" found that 44 percent of prostitutes had suffered violence at the hands of clients. [3] Just under a half did not report the crimes to the authorities. The "Vietnam Network of Sex Workers" have called for decriminalization to make sex work safer. [3] Kimberly Kay Hoang, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Chicago, who conducted a 2011 study of prostitutes in Ho Chi Minh City is quoted as saying: "Legalising prostitution would also reduce violence and sex crimes such as rape and sexual violence. Prostitutes would feel safe calling the police to report instances of violence and abuse by clients, traffickers, and pimps to law enforcement officials." Mr. Le Duc Hien, deputy director of a government department tasked with fighting social evils under the labor ministry, crystallized this by telling the media: "It would be a strategic mistake to tap prostitution as an industry to boost tourism revenues. What would happen if we recognize sex work as a profession but fail to manage it later on?" [3]

Terminology

Various groups and individuals in Vietnam, including sex worker activists, scholars, the media, and non-governmental organizations such as the Vietnam Network of Sex Workers (part of the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers), prefer using the term sex work instead of prostitution. [49] The Vietnamese government still refers almost exclusively to prostitution and prostitutes as the targets of its policies, whether that is the criminalization or the potential legalization of sex work in the country. [3] There is no clear or consistent pattern in how the terms are applied, even though there is an increasing awareness of other forms of sex work that so-called prostitutes may in fact be engaging in, such as webcam modeling. [50] There is also a recognition that the term sex work may not fully encompass the problem of sex trafficking, which Vietnam continues to deal with, as the term implies that a certain level of agency and willingness to engage in sexual labor, which victims of sex trafficking have been denied. [51] [52] In discussing the historical phenomenon, some scholars argue that using the term sex work is anachronistic and prefer the term prostitution instead, as the latter term is what was used in documents and texts from the past. [8] [53] Conversely, other scholars argue that the phenomenon was just as diverse in the past as it is in the present, so the term sex work is perhaps more appropriate than the term prostitution as an all-encompassing reference, and certainly more aligned with the ways in which sex workers in the present prefer to be identified and discussed. [9]

HIV

There is a problem of HIV among sex workers. Fear of detection prevents prostitutes accessing health services and so infections go untreated and spread. [4] Advocates of decriminalization submit that where prostitution is illegal, sex workers are more susceptible to STIs. [3] [54] [55]

At a conference it 2011, a paper presented by Vietnam's Labor Ministry, said 9.3% of prostitutes in the country were infected by HIV. However it was considerably higher is some areas: Hanoi 20%, Ho Chi Minh City 16%, and Hai Phong 23%. Lack of access to condoms and medical services were primary causes. [56] Prostitutes may also avoid condoms as they can be used as evidence of prostitution. [1]

A study of 5,298 prostitutes published in 2015 by "Drug Alcohol Depend" concluded that injected drug use is also a key risk factor for HIV transmission amongst prostitutes. [57]

Vietnamese prostitution in other nations

Vietnamese prostitution is not confined to the country itself. In Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta, there are reports of women being forced into prostitution after marrying overseas, particularly in other Asian countries. In Macau, exploitation of women has been supported by legal organizations. In the end, these women were often forced into indentured servitude or prostitution. [58] Many women travel from Lao Cai to Hekou County in China to work in brothels that cater to Chinese men. [59]

Child trafficking

In Ho Chi Minh City, many of the prostitutes are under 18 years of age. Some forced into the trade because of economic needs. [60] [61] The prostitutes are both girls and boys (called Trai bao ("covered boy") and trai gọi ("call boy")). In addition, children are trafficked due to the demand for prostitution in other countries. One non-governmental organization estimates that the average age of trafficked girls is between 15 and 17, although the average age of girls trafficked to Cambodia is estimated to be much lower. [62] In the Sa Pa tourist region, an Australian non-governmental organization uncovered 80 commercial cases of child exploitation by foreign nationals in 2007, the same year that the nation established a child sex tourism investigative unit within the Vietnam Ministry of Public Security. [63]

Sex trafficking

Vietnam is listed as a Tier 2 country for human trafficking by the US Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. [64]

Vietnam is a source and, to a lesser extent, a destination country for women, and children subjected to sex trafficking. Vietnamese women and children are subjected to sex trafficking abroad; many are misled by fraudulent employment opportunities and sold to brothel operators on the borders of China, Cambodia, and Laos, and elsewhere in Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. Some Vietnamese women who travel abroad for internationally brokered marriages or jobs in restaurants, massage parlors, and karaoke bars — mostly to China, Malaysia, and Singapore – are subjected to forced prostitution. False advertising, debt bondage, passport confiscation, and threats of deportation are tactics commonly used to compel Vietnamese victims into servitude. Traffickers increasingly use the internet, gaming sites, and particularly social media to lure potential victims into vulnerable situations; for example, men entice young women and girls with online dating relationships and persuade them to move abroad, then subject them to sex trafficking. [64]

Many children from impoverished rural areas, and a rising number from middle class and urban settings, are subjected to sex trafficking. Child sex tourists, reportedly from elsewhere in Asia, the United Kingdom and other countries in Europe, Australia, Canada, and the United States, exploit children in Vietnam. [64]

Portrayal in media

Miss Saigon

The protagonist of the 1989 musical Miss Saigon is a Vietnamese prostitute named Kim. Echoing the plot of Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly , Kim falls in love with and is left pregnant by a client who is a white American soldier with a wife at home. After he has abandoned her for his American wife, Kim realizes her child's father will never return and shoots herself. The show drew criticism for promoting the stereotype of a dominant/submissive relationship between a Western man and an Asian prostitute. [65]

Fuck Miss Saigon

The 2017 book on the sex trade in Vietnam, written by a working prostitute from the Mekong Delta. This is the first account of prostitution in Vietnam by a prostitute. [66]

Âm Tính

The 2008 Vietnamese television series Âm Tính is a documentary about Lam Uyen Nhi, a former beauty contest winner turned prostitute and drug addict. Eventually, Lam died in 2007 after a battle with HIV/AIDS. The 20-part series focuses on Lam's ups and downs, with 2006 Miss Vietnam winner Mai Phuong Thuy playing the role of Lam. [67]

Full Metal Jacket

The 1987 film Full Metal Jacket features scenes wherein prostitution is depicted with the soldiers. In one scene, Private Joker (Matthew Modine) and Private Rafterman (Kevyn Major Howard) are approached by a Da Nang hooker (Papillon Soo Soo). One of the scenes occurs during a lull between battles:

Da Nang Hooker: Well, baby, me so horny. Me so horny. Me love you long time. Me sucky sucky.
[later in the same dialog exchange]
Private Joker: What can I get for ten dollars?
Da Nang Hooker: Every t'ing you want.
Private Joker: Everything?
Da Nang Hooker: Every t'ing.

Hearts and Minds

The 1974 film Hearts and Minds features scenes of prostitution, at both the beginning of the film, and during the middle of it. The first scene depicts soldiers' soliciting prostitutes in Saigon, and the second scene includes interviews with soldiers who are with prostitutes, with questions asked about the war and their current activities. [68]

Lost in Paradise

The 2011 film Lost in Paradise is a film that features two storylines; the main storyline focusing on gay male prostitution and the secondary storyline featuring a female prostitute. The film also includes violence against prostitutes for being gay. A Vancouver International Film Festival reviewer said that he felt the film's portrayal of gay prostitution was "authentic." [69]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">French Indochina</span> 1887–1954 French colonies in Southeast Asia

French Indochina, officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a grouping of French colonial territories in Mainland Southeast Asia until its end in 1954. It comprised Cambodia, Laos, the Chinese territory of Guangzhouwan, and the Vietnamese regions of Tonkin in the north, Annam in the centre, and Cochinchina in the south. The capital for most of its history (1902–1945) was Hanoi; Saigon was the capital from 1887 to 1902 and again from 1945 to 1946.

Prostitution is illegal in Russia. The punishment for engagement in prostitution is a fine from 1500 up to 2000 rubles. Moreover, organizing prostitution is punishable by a prison term. Prostitution remains a very serious social issue in Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japan–Vietnam relations</span> Bilateral relations

Japanese–Vietnamese relations are over a millennium old, and the establishment of friendly trade relations can be traced to at least the 16th century. Modern relations between the two countries are based on Vietnam's developing economy and Japan's role as an investor and foreign aid donor, as well as migrant Vietnamese workers supplying much needed labour in Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in India</span>

Prostitution is legal in India, but a number of related activities including soliciting, kerb crawling, owning or managing a brothel, prostitution in a hotel, child prostitution, pimping and pandering are illegal. There are, however, many brothels illegally operating in Indian cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, and Nagpur, among others. UNAIDS estimate there were 657,829 prostitutes in the country as of 2016. Other unofficial estimates have calculated India has roughly 3 million prostitutes. India is widely regarded as having one of the world's largest commercial sex industry. It has emerged as a global hub of sex tourism, attracting sex tourists from wealthy countries. The sex industry in India is a multi-billion dollar one, and one of the fastest growing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vũ Trọng Phụng</span> Vietnamese writer

Vũ Trọng Phụng was a popular Vietnamese author and journalist, who is considered to be one of the most influential figures of 20th century Vietnamese literature. Today, several of his works are taught in Vietnamese schools.

Prostitution in Myanmar is illegal, but widespread. Prostitution is a major social issue that particularly affects women and children. UNAIDS estimate there to be 66,000 prostitutes in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bordel militaire de campagne</span> French military brothels

Bordels Mobiles de Campagne or Bordel Militaire de Campagne were mobile brothels used during World War I, World War II and the First Indochina War to supply prostitution services to French soldiers fighting in areas where brothels were unusual, such as at the front line or in isolated garrisons. The BMCs were significant drivers towards the creation of prostitution regulations within the French army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in Australia</span>

Prostitution in Australia is governed by state and territory laws, which vary considerably, although none ban the selling of sex itself.

Prostitution in Turkey is legal and regulated. The secularization of Turkish society allowed prostitution to achieve legal status during the early 20th century. Known as "general houses" (genelevler) in the country, these are state run brothels which must receive permits from the government to operate. In turn, the regulatory agencies issue identity cards to sex workers that give them rights to some free medical care and other social services. However, many local governments now have a policy of not issuing new registrations, and in some cities, such as Ankara and Bursa, brothels have been demolished by court order. In 2012, it was estimated there are 100,000 unliscenced prostitutes in Turkey, half of whom are foreign born.

Prostitution in Singapore in itself is not illegal, but various prostitution-related activities are criminalized. This includes public solicitation, living on the earnings of a prostitute and maintaining a brothel. In practice, police unofficially tolerate and monitor a limited number of brothels. Prostitutes in such establishments are required to undergo periodic health checks and must carry a health card.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trần Trọng Kim</span> Vietnamese scholar and politician (1883–1953)

Trần Trọng Kim, courtesy name Lệ Thần, was a Vietnamese scholar and politician who served as the Prime Minister of the short-lived Empire of Vietnam, a state established with the support of Imperial Japan in 1945 after Japan had seized direct control of Vietnam from Vichy France toward the end of World War II. He was an uncle of Bùi Diễm.

Prostitution in Ecuador is legal and regulated, as long as the prostitute is over the age of 18, registered, and works from a licensed brothel. Prostitution is widespread throughout the country. Many brothels and prostitutes operate outside the regulatory system and the regulations have been less strictly enforced in recent years. 25,000 prostitutes were registered in the year 2000. In 2007 it was estimated that 70% of the prostitutes in the country were from Colombia. The country attracts Colombian prostitutes as the currency is the US$ rather than the unstable Colombian peso. UNAIDS estimate there to be 35,000 prostitutes in the country.

Prostitution in Indonesia is legally considered a "crime against decency/morality", although it is widely practiced, tolerated and even regulated in some areas. Some women are financially motivated to become prostitutes, while others may be forced by friends, relatives or strangers. Traditionally, they have met with customers in entertainment venues or special prostitution complexes, or lokalisasi (localization). However, recently internet forums and Facebook have been used to facilitate prostitute-client relations. In recent years, child sex tourism has become an issue at the resort islands of Batam and Bali.

Prostitution in Malaysia is restricted in all states despite it being widespread in the country. Related activities such as soliciting and brothels are illegal. In the two states of Terengganu and Kelantan, Muslims convicted of prostitution may be punishable with public caning.

Prostitution in Cambodia is illegal, but prevalent. A 2008 Cambodian Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation has proven controversial, with international concerns regarding human rights abuses resulting from it, such as outlined in the 2010 Human Rights Watch report.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese people in Vietnam</span> Ethnic group

The community of Japanese expatriates and descendants in Vietnam consist mainly of Japanese expatriates and migrants residing in Vietnam, as well as their descendants who identify their ancestry to be Japanese. As of 2016, there are about 16,145 Japanese residents in Vietnam, mostly around Hanoi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in Laos</span>

Prostitution in Laos is regarded as a criminal activity and can be subject to severe prosecution. It is much less common than in neighbouring Thailand. Soliciting for prostitution takes place mainly in the city's bars and clubs, although street prostitution also takes place. The visibility of prostitution in Laos belies the practice's illegality. As of 2016, UNAIDS estimates there to be 13,400 prostitutes in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karayuki-san</span> Trafficked women in the 19th and 20th centuries

Karayuki-san (唐行きさん) was the name given to Japanese girls and women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who were trafficked from poverty-stricken agricultural prefectures in Japan to destinations in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Siberia, Manchuria, British India, and Australia, to serve as prostitutes.

Sex trafficking in China is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the People's Republic of China. It is a country of origin, destination, and transit for sexually trafficked persons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex trafficking in Vietnam</span>

Sex trafficking in Vietnam is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Vietnam is a source and, to a lesser extent, destination country for sexually trafficked persons.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Sexuality, Poverty and Law Programme". Institute of Development Studies. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  2. ↑ "Sex workers: Population size estimate – Number, 2016". aidsinfoonline.org. UNAIDS. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Luong, Dien (13 April 2016). "Will Vietnam Legalize Prostitution?". The Diplomat . Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Godwin, john (October 2012). "Sex Work and the Law in Asia and The Pacific" (PDF). UNAIDS. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  5. ↑ "The Tale of Kieu". World Digital Library. 1894. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  6. 1 2 Goscha, Christopher (2016). Vietnam: A New History. New York: Basic Books. ISBN   978-0-465-09436-3. OCLC   945797017.
  7. ↑ Baldanza, Kathlene (2016). Ming China and Vietnam: Negotiating Borders in Early Modern Asia. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-1-107-12424-0. OCLC   922694609.
  8. 1 2 3 Hoang, Kimberly Kay (2011). New Economies of Sex and Intimacy in Vietnam (PhD). University of California, Berkeley.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Firpo, Christina Elizabeth (2020). Black Market Business: Selling Sex in Northern Vietnam, 1920–1945. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ISBN   978-1-5017-5267-4. OCLC   1145921997.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Tracol-Huynh, Isabelle (2010). "Between Stigmatisation and Regulation: Prostitution in Colonial Northern Vietnam". Culture, Health & Sexuality . 12 (sup1): S73–S87. doi:10.1080/13691051003706561. ISSN   1369-1058. PMID   20364443. S2CID   34442155.
  11. ↑ Stoler, Ann Laura (1989). "Making Empire Respectable: The Politics of Race and Sexual Morality in 20th-Century Colonial Cultures". American Ethnologist . 16 (4): 634–660. doi:10.1525/ae.1989.16.4.02a00030. hdl: 2027.42/136501 . ISSN   1548-1425.
  12. 1 2 3 Stoler, Ann Laura (2010). Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power: Race and the Intimate in Colonial Rule (with a new preface) (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-92774-2. OCLC   1163878687.
  13. ↑ Andaya, Barbara Watson (1998). "From Temporary Wife to Prostitute: Sexuality and Economic Change in Early Modern Southeast Asia". Journal of Women's History . 9 (4): 11–34. doi:10.1353/jowh.2010.0225. ISSN   1527-2036. S2CID   145217412.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tracol-Huynh, Isabelle (2012). "The Shadow Theater of Prostitution in French Colonial Tonkin: Faceless Prostitutes Under the Colonial Gaze". Journal of Vietnamese Studies . 7 (1). Translated by Kareem James Abu-Zeid: 10–51. doi:10.1525/vs.2012.7.1.10. ISSN   1559-372X.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Vũ, Trọng Phụng (2011). Lục Xì: Prostitution and Venereal Disease in Colonial Hanoi. Translated by Malarney, Shaun Kingsley. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press. ISBN   978-0-8248-6061-5. OCLC   794925349.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cherry, Haydon (2019). "A Woman Who Ran Away". Down and Out in Saigon: Stories of the Poor in a Colonial City. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. pp. 32–53. ISBN   978-0-300-24493-9. OCLC   1099434184.
  17. ↑ Hoskins, Janet (2007). "Postcards From the Edge of Empire: Images and Messages from French Indochina". IIAS Newsletter . 44: 16–17. hdl:1887/12510.
  18. ↑ Vann, Michael G. (2017). "Sex and the Colonial City: Mapping Masculinity, Whiteness, and Desire in French Occupied Hanoi". Journal of World History . 28 (3/4): 395–435. doi:10.1353/jwh.2017.0037. ISSN   1527-8050. S2CID   165818331.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Roustan, Frédéric (2012). "Mousmés and French Colonial Culture: Making Japanese Women's Bodies Available in Indochina". Journal of Vietnamese Studies . 7 (1). Translated by Kareem James Abu-Zeid: 52–105. doi:10.1525/vs.2012.7.1.52. ISSN   1559-372X.
  20. ↑ Mihalopoulos, Bill (1994). "The Making of Prostitutes in Japan: The Karayuki-San". Social Justice. 21 (2). Social Justice/Global Options: 161–84. JSTOR   29766813.
  21. ↑ Roustan, Frédéric. (2012). "Mousmés and French Colonial Culture: Making Japanese Women's Bodies Available in Indochina". Journal of Vietnamese Studies. 7 (1). University of California Press: 65. doi:10.1525/vs.2012.7.1.52. JSTOR   10.1525/vs.2012.7.1.52.
  22. ↑ Carney, Joey (27 April 2020). "A Brief Primer on Vice and Sex in Colonial Vietnam". Simi Press.
  23. ↑ Roustan, Frédéric (2012). "Mousmés and French Colonial Culture: Making Japanese Women's Bodies Available in Indochina". Journal of Vietnamese Studies. 7 (1): 52–105. doi:10.1525/vs.2012.7.1.52. JSTOR   10.1525/vs.2012.7.1.52.
  24. ↑ Carney, Joey (27 April 2020). "A Brief Primer on Vice and Sex in Colonial Vietnam". Simi Press.
  25. ↑ Hoskins, Janet (Summer 2007). "Postcards from the Edge of Empire: Images and Messages from French Indochina". IIAS Newsletter (44): 16, 17.
  26. ↑ Hoskins, Janet (January 2007). "Postcards from the Edge of Empire: Images and Messages from French Indochina". IIAS Newsletter.
  27. ↑ Yee, Jennifer (2004). "Recycling the 'Colonial Harem'? Women in Postcards from French Indochina". French Cultural Studies. 15 (5): 5–19. doi:10.1177/0957155804040405. S2CID   162718081.
  28. ↑ "[Photos] The Japanese Prostitutes Of Colonial Vietnam". Saigoneer. 15 July 2015. Archived from the original on 17 July 2015.
  29. ↑ "西貢故事館: Japanese women settlers whose were in French Indochina". 8 July 2015.
  30. ↑ "Pin on Karayuki-san".
  31. ↑ "Karayuki-san in the West". 2 April 2018.
  32. ↑ Sartore, Melissa (7 June 2019). "Facts About Karayuki-San, The Japanese Sex Workers Trafficked To The Rest Of The World". Ranker.
  33. ↑ https://www.facebook .com/rankerweirdhistory/posts/11-facts-about-karayuki-san-the-japanese-sex-workers-trafficked-to-the-rest-of-t/1420919264731111/
  34. ↑ Jolivet, Muriel (2005). Japan: The Childless Society?: The Crisis of Motherhood. Routledge. p. 124. ISBN   1134757166.
  35. ↑ Hong, Regina (8 July 2021). "Picturing the past: Postcards and the pre-war Japanese in Singapore". ARIscope Home - Asia Research Institute, NUS.
  36. ↑ Mihalopoulos, Bill (1994). "The Making of Prostitutes in Japan: The Karayuki-San". Social Justice. 21 (2): 161–84. JSTOR   29766813.
  37. ↑ Mihalopoulos, Bill (26 August 2012). "世界かWomen, Overseas Sex Work and Globalization in Meiji Japan 明治日本における女性，国外性労働、海外進出". Japan Focus: The Asia-Pacific Journal. 10 (35).
  38. ↑ Lay, Belmont (18 May 2016). "Thousands of Japanese women worked as prostitutes in S'pore in late 1800s, early 1900s". Mothership.SG.
  39. ↑ Isono, Tomotaka (13 May 2012). ""Karayuki-san" and "Japayuki-san"". The North American Post: Seattle Japanese Community.
  40. ↑ Sissons, D. C. S. (1977). "Karayuki-san: Japanese prostitutes in Australia, 1887–1916 (I & II)" (PDF). Historical Studies. 17 (68). Taylor & Francis Ltd: 323–341. doi:10.1080/10314617708595555.
  41. ↑ Sone, Sachiko (January 1990). The karayuki-san of Asia, 1868-1938 : the role of prostitutes overseas in Japanese economic and social development (Master's Thesis).
  42. ↑ Thomas G. Bauer, Bob McKercher (2003). Sex and tourism: journeys of romance, love, and lust. Haworth Press. p.  173. ISBN   978-0-7890-1203-6.
  43. ↑ Park, Jinim (2007). Narratives of the Vietnam war by Korean and American writers. New York: Lang. ISBN   978-0820486154.
  44. 1 2 Enloe, Cynthia (2000). Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women's Lives. University of California Press. pp. 67–68. ISBN   9780520220713.
  45. ↑ Emerson, Gloria (7 December 1971). "Saigon Is Closing Sleazy Bars for G.I.'s". The New York Times.
  46. ↑ Galanos, Louis (1 August 2005). "First Impressions". Vietnamgear.com. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  47. ↑ Lee, Rusty (7 December 2011). Still Alive: My journey through war, combat and the struggles of PTSD. And the Perils of Addiction. (And stage four cancer). [S.l.]: Authorhouse. p. 348. ISBN   978-1467848251 . Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  48. ↑ "Ordinance on Prostitution Prevention and Combat" (PDF). International Labour Organisation. 17 March 2003. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  49. ↑ Vietnam Network of Sex Workers on International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers 2015 (video), Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers, 2015, archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 8 April 2021
  50. ↑ Nguyen, My Tra (2019). Online Sex Work Environment: Exploring the Security of Working Conditions: The Case of Vietnam (MA). International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam. hdl:2105/51365.
  51. ↑ Phan, Dung (12 June 2016). "Sex work in Vietnam: Wrong policy by the government?". ASEAN Today. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  52. ↑ Phan, Dung (23 June 2016). "Human trafficking in Vietnam: Why raising awareness is not enough". ASEAN Today. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  53. ↑ Hoang, Kimberly Kay (2015). Dealing in Desire: Asian Ascendancy, Western Decline, and the Hidden Currencies of Global Sex Work. Oakland: University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-96068-8. OCLC   899739300.
  54. ↑ "Sex Workers, HIV and AIDS". AVERT. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  55. ↑ Bulman, May (20 December 2017). "Decriminalising prostitution could 'dramatically' reduce sexual violence and STI transmission, finds study". The Independent. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  56. ↑ "Vietnam Fails to Prevent Spread of HIV Among Sex Workers". CDC National Prevention Information Network. 2 May 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  57. ↑ Le, L. V; Nguyen, T. A; Tran, H. V; Gupta, N; Duong, T. C; Tran, H. T; Nadol, P; Sabin, K; Maher, L; Kaldor, J. M (14 February 2015). "Correlates of HIV infection among female sex workers in Vietnam: injection drug use remains a key risk factor". Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 150: 46–53. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.02.006. PMC   10774074 . PMID   25765480.
  58. ↑ U.S. Department of State (25 February 2009). "2008 Human Rights Reports: Vietnam". State.gov. Archived from the original on 26 February 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  59. ↑ Michael Hitchcock (2009). Tourism in Southeast Asia: challenges and new directions. NIAS Press. p. 211. ISBN   978-87-7694-034-8 . Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  60. ↑ "Defiling the Children". Time . 21 June 1993. Archived from the original on 18 January 2008. Retrieved 1 March 2008.
  61. ↑ "World: Asia-Pacific Vietnam on sex tourism alert". BBC. 11 June 1999. Retrieved 1 March 2008.
  62. ↑ "Vietnam". US State Department. 23 February 2001.
  63. ↑ "Vietnam". Trafficking in Persons Report 2008. U.S. Department of State (4 June 2008). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  64. 1 2 3 "Vietnam 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report". US Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  65. ↑ Nemoto, Kumiko (2009). Racing Romance. Rutgers University Press. pp. 22–23. ISBN   978-0-8135-4533-2.
  66. ↑ moe, ms mekong (2017). Fuck Miss Saigon: adventures of a Vietnamese prostitute (1st ed.). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN   9781981110834.
  67. ↑ Dinh, Ngoc (14 July 2008). "Nguyễn Quang Lập: Viết 'Âm tính' không dám phóng tay" (in Vietnamese). Tien Phong Online. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  68. ↑ Ebert, Roger (1 January 1974). "Hearts And Minds". Roger Ebert. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  69. ↑ Tony Rayn, Lost in Paradise Archived 12 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine , Vancouver International Film Festival. Retrieved 26 November 2011
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.