Is Prostitution Subject to Criminal Prosecution?

Prostitution Prevention and Control Ordinance 2003

The Prostitution Prevention and Control Ordinance 2003 stipulates that sex workers, depending on the nature and severity of the violation, may be subject to administrative penalties, educational measures at the commune level town, ward, or commune level, or be sent to a rehabilitation center. If the sex worker is a foreigner, they may be subject to administrative penalties in the form of a warning, fines, or deportation, depending on the nature and severity of the violation.

Sex workers will only be subjected to administrative penalties in the form of fines as stipulated in Decree 178/2004/ND-CP as follows:

- Any person engaging in prostitution shall be subject to a warning or a fine ranging from 100,000 VND to 300,000 VND.- A fine ranging from 300,000 VND to 500,000 VND shall be imposed for engaging in prostitution with multiple people at the same time.- A fine ranging from 500,000 VND to 1,000,000 VND shall be imposed for engaging in depraved prostitution activities.- Sex workers who are habitual offenders aged 14 and above, with a fixed residence, will be subjected to educational measures at the commune, ward, or commune-level town; habitual sex workers aged 16 and above, who have been subjected to such educational measures or not but have no fixed residence, will be subjected to measures of being sent to a rehabilitation center.

The procedures for applying educational measures at the commune, ward, or commune-level town, or sending to rehabilitation centers, are to be carried out according to the provisions of the law on handling administrative violations.

Foreign sex workers, depending on the case, will be subject to administrative penalties as stipulated in Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of Article 18 of Decree 178/2004/ND-CP and will be deported.

However, if a sex worker knowingly carries HIV and deliberately transmits the disease to others, they will be subject to criminal prosecution.

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