VietNamNet Bridge – The upcoming Law on Prostitution Prevention is advised to raise awareness on prostitution to encourage prostitutes to change their “job.”

Prostitutes are caught during a police raid.— Photo anninhthudo.vn

In case prostitutes do not want to change, the law should offer them basic rights, such as protecting them from being beaten and exploited, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs Nguyen Trong Dam told the Voice of Viet Nam’s online newspaper.

The draft of the law has been prepared and is scheduled to be submitted to the National Assembly in early 2018.

Dam said Viet Nam had undertaken measures to prevent prostitution for years but had still failed to bring the situation under control.

In a recent attempt to address the situation, the ministry had prepared a pilot model to prevent prostitution in the five northern provinces, he said.

According to the model, peer groups will be set up to get prostitutes to gather. Through these groups, authorised agencies will know how many prostitutes are present in an area, what issues they face, and find ways to help them fix these issues.

Additionally, information could be disseminated to alter their view of prostitution.

Statistics from the ministry showed that the country currently has over 100,000 prostitutes.

Source: VNS