Identity of Vietnamese sex workers should not be publicized: opinions

The feedback has been given in response to the fact that many media agencies have long publicized the names and images of women who prostitute themselves, while not doing the same, or doing little, toward their clients.

Sex workers’ identity should not publicized

“The publication of the names and images of women who work as sex workers can lead to bad consequences for them, especially when they are just suspects and their cases are still under investigation,” Ta Ngoc Van, an expert in assistance for rescuing trafficked women and children, said.

“In my opinion, it is not advisable to have the faces of such women shown clearly in media, even when they have been confirmed to be prostitute, as their violations are treated administratively only.”

Many people have questioned that why police and news outlets have only published the names and photos of sex workers, but have not revealed the identity of their clients.

“When being made known to the public, sex workers can suffer a loss greater than that of their clients. So in terms of morality, I think the identity of sex workers should not be publicized,” Van said.

Don’t drive them into an impasse

Tran Thi Bich Thuy, former deputy chair of the Ho Chi Minh City Women’s Union, said every woman who works as a prostitute has specific circumstances that have led them to do so.

Some women have engaged in prostitution to earn money to meet the need of their consumerism lifestyle, but some others have had to prostitute themselves to earn money to support their poor family, Thuy said.

There are also those who have been lured to work as prostitutes, she added.

Therefore, the society and media should give them humanitarian treatment and offer them opportunities to change their life for the better, she suggested.

“Revealing their names and images will only give them inferiority complex and feelings of guilt, and drive them into a deadlock,” Thuy said. 

Be careful not to violate personality rights

Under the law of Vietnam, selling or buying sex is not considered a crime, lawyer Bui Quang Nghiem said.

The mass media should therefore be careful as the publication of their names and images without their prior consent can be seen as a violation of citizens’ personality rights that have been provided for in the Constitution.

When it is necessary to publicize the names of sex workers, their clients’ should be made known to the public as well for the sake of justice, the lawyer emphasized.

Sharing the same view with lawyer Nghiem, an anti-social evil official in Ho Chi Minh City, also affirmed that people who prostitute themselves are not criminals and that such an act is only treated as an administrative violation.

Pham Cong Hung, a judge from the Supreme People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City, said, “I’ll go for giving pecuniary fines to sex workers but I think that the publication of their names and photos will be counterproductive.”

Names can be publicized, but images cannot

Both acts of selling and buying sex are those that violate the Administrative Law, which stipulates that the violators can be reported to their local authorities, said Judge Vuong Van Nghia, at the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court.

The names of both prostitutes and their clients can be released under the law, Judge Nghia said.

However, the images of these people are not allowed to be published, as such publication is a violation of their rights to privacy provided for in the Penal Code.