Speaking at a seminar on empowering women migrant workers in Hanoi on March 11, Suzette Mitchell, Chief Representative of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), stressed that women are easily vulnerable to abuse in the countries where they work. The mass media can play an important role in detecting abuse and making it public when it occurs, she said.

According to Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, Director of the Overseas Labour Management Department, the number of female migrant workers has continuously increased in recent years, accounting for 25-30 percent of the annual total of 80,000 guest workers.

Women sent to work abroad through unofficial channels face the risk of being exploited and abused or becoming the victims of human trafficking activities, he said.

At the seminar, experts, reporters and representatives of labour export businesses discussed policies, the real situation and measures to protect the interests of female labourers when working overseas.

The seminar was part of a project to empower women Vietnamese migrant workers that is being implemented by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs with financial and technical support from UNIFEM.