CASE STUDY:
Twenty-four-year prison sentence for a human trafficker
Protecting victims of trafficking and strengthening the prosecution of
traffickers in Quang Ninh, Vietnam.
On December 15, 2005, a court trial was held
in Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam, to prosecute a human trafficking case. A 20-year-old girl named Thuy, herself a former
victim of trafficking, was accused of trafficking 27 women and
children. Four victims from Ha Long City, Quang Ninh
Province escaped and were rescued, and subsequently served as
witnesses testifying against the accused trafficker. The trafficker
was convicted and sentenced to 24 years of imprisonment,
and was ordered to compensate the victims for the mental and
physical trauma endured. This is one of the most successful
cases of trafficking prosecution seen in Quang Ninh. The case
was strengthened substantially by the trafficking-related legal
aid services provided by the National Legal Aid Agency of the
Vietnamese Ministry of Justice, with technical and financial
support from The Asia Foundation. Since August 2005, in
Quang Ninh alone, the Provincial Legal Aid Center has provided
28 women and 4 children with legal aid services, including
representing victims in court and counseling them on residence
permits, marriage registration, birth registration for children
born to Chinese fathers, and land-use rights and housing. In
addition, the program has supported 10 victims in court cases
and helped to bring 20 traffickers to justice.
THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE
Thuy, then 18 years old, was lured to China in 2004 to work
as a sex worker in a brothel in Xuongxi, 400 km from the
Vietnamese border. The brothel owners proposed to Thuy that
she bring other Vietnamese girls to China to work in their
brothel or to sell to Chinese men as “wives.” They promised to
pay her 400-500 Renminbi (US$50-60) for each victim. In
March 2005, Thuy was given US$220 in cash to return to
Vietnam to recruit girls to bring to China. Upon her arrival in
Ha Long City, Thuy visited the house of Th., age 15, and
asked her to go shopping in the border-gate area. Along the
way, they picked up another acquaintance of Thuy’s, L., age
19. Thuy took the two young girls across the border into
A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO COMBATING
TRAFFICKING
This court case highlights the effectiveness of The
Asia Foundation’s comprehensive approach to the
problem of human trafficking. First, without strong
bilateral cooperation between China and Vietnam,
especially between the police and border guards, the
case would never have been successfully prosecuted. Second, legal aid services and social support for
victims of trafficking are critical to a strong court
case that would enable the victims to seek justice
and compensation. The Asia Foundation has been
working with local partners such as the Vietnam’s
Women’s Union and the Center for Education
Promotion and Empowerment for Women to promote
trafficking awareness, empower at-risk groups economically through microcredit and microenterprise
training, establish community monitoring groups,
help trafficking survivors reintegrate into society,
and promote cross-border collaboration between
Vietnam, Cambodia, and China. Recognizing the
need to address the multiple and overlapping facets
of this complex problem, the Foundation has established complementary programs in another strategic
area: better protection of victims and prosecution of
traffickers through legal aid provision. This court
case illustrates the effectiveness of this more comprehensive approach to combating trafficking, and
that the partnership between The Asia Foundation
and the National Legal Aid Agency is having a clear
positive impact.
China, where the brothel owners were waiting for
them. Realizing that something was wrong, L.
managed to run away and escape back to Vietnam,
and reported the case to the Quang Ninh bordergate office. Th., however, was taken to the brothel
owners’ home where she was kept for two months
and then brought to a guesthouse where she was
deflowered for 1,000 Renminbi (US$100-120).
She was then taken to different brothels and
forced to have sex with 14-15 men per day, who
paid the brothel 40-50 Renminbi each time.
Two months later, Thuy returned to Vietnam and
recruited two more women (H., age 31 and L.A.,
age 35), under the false premise of visiting Thuy’s
newly opened coffee shop in the border area and
conducting business together. Thuy took the two
women across to China where the brothel owners
were waiting to take them to their house in
Xuongxi. That night, a couple went to the house
to buy them as brides. The owners asked for
10,000 Renminbi but got 8,000 for both. Later,
the couple reneged on the negotiation, saying that
they were too old to be wives.
While the house guards were sleeping, the two
women managed to escape. After walking for a
day, they were able to hitch a ride back to the
Vietnamese border. When the women returned
home, they reported their case to the police and
informed Th.’s family about her situation in
China. The Vietnamese police then informed their
Chinese counterparts, and the Chinese police raided the brothels. Thuy was arrested, extradited to
Vietnam, and transferred to the Vietnamese police.
Th. was rescued after nearly four months of sexual
exploitation. Effective cross-border cooperation
between Vietnam and China was clearly critical
in this case, and The Asia Foundation has been
fostering and facilitating such cooperation
through exchanges and workshops.
ABOUT THE TRAFFICKER
Born to an extremely poor family, Thuy was
forced to drop out of school to work to support
her family when she was in the seventh grade.
Her parents separated, and after her mother
became partially disabled from a serious traffic
accident, their son was also forced to drop out of
school. Thuy’s family lives in a very small house
granted to them by the local Red Cross. Thuy
married but was abandoned by her husband and
his family after a medical check revealed that she
could never have children. She then was lured to
China in 2004 and trafficked into a brothel.
Before being arrested, Thuy had been sending
money to help her mother survive. Thuy’s transition from victim to perpetrator is not unique:
there are many other instances in Quang Ninh in
which victims of trafficking became successful
traffickers, knowing the tricks of the trade and
the routes for trafficking. Traffickers will also most
likely target the women and children they know,
including their own families, relatives, and friends.
THE OUTCOME
The Asia Foundation is
a private, non-profit,
non-governmental
organization working to
advance mutual interests
in the United States and
the Asia-Pacific region. It
is funded by contributions
from corporations,
foundations, individuals,
and governmental
organizations in the U.S.,
Europe, and Asia, and an
annual appropriation
from the U.S. Congress.
Through its programs, the
Foundation builds
At the court hearing, Thuy accepted all the
charges against her, including trafficking in
women and children for sexual exploitation/prostitution purposes. Under Articles 119 and 120 of
the Vietnamese Criminal Code, a trafficker can
be sentenced from 20 years to life in prison. After
considering Thuy’s own past as a victim of trafficking and her difficult family situation, she was
sentenced to 24 years in prison, the highest ever
handed down by the court in a trafficking case in
Quang Ninh.
Trafficking victims often do not appear in court
out of shame and fear and generally do not have
access to legal representation to make a strong
case for prosecution. In this instance, the four
victims were provided with free legal counseling
and other services by the Quang Ninh Legal
Aid Center, which is supported by The Asia
Foundation with funding from the U.S.
Department of State and USAID. When the
Legal Aid Center first approached the families
and offered their services, the victims themselves
did not want to go public since they were afraid
of being re-trafficked. The Center’s three lawyers
convinced them to testify against their trafficker
in court, leading to her conviction, prison sentence, and the highest-ever compensation awarded
to trafficking victims in Vietnam. The reality,
however, is that financial compensation in this
instance is mostly symbolic since Thuy is too
poor herself to pay and will only be able to begin
to do so once she is released and has a job.
leadership, improves
policies, and strengthens
institutions to foster
greater openness and
shared prosperity in the
Asia-Pacific region.
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02/06