What is Prostitution and Soliciting Prostitution?

In practice, we can clearly distinguish: “prostitution” refers to the act of “selling sex” whereas “patronizing prostitution” refers to the act of “buying sex.”

According to Ordinance on Prevention and Combat of Prostitution 2003, Prostitution is generally understood as the act of buying and selling sex. Specifically:

- Selling sex is the act of engaging in sexual intercourse with another person in exchange for money or other material benefits.- Buying sex is the act of using money or other material benefits to pay someone to engage in sexual intercourse.

According to the Wikipedia dictionary, sexual intercourse is the act of inserting the male genital organ into the female genital organ. Thus, sexual intercourse here refers to sexual relations between persons of different sexes (male and female), while sexual relations between homosexual persons are not considered "sexual intercourse." Currently, there are no regulations that explicitly interpret sexual intercourse between homosexual persons; therefore, if these individuals engage in buying or selling sex, they will not be subject to penalization.

The acts of buying and selling sex are penalized as per Articles 22 and 23 of Decree 167/2013/ND-CP as follows:

For acts of buying sex:

- A fine of VND 500,000 to VND 1,000,000 for the act of buying sex;- A fine of VND 2,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 in cases of buying sex from multiple people at the same time;- A fine of VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 for acts of enticing or forcing others to buy sex together.

For acts of selling sex:

- A warning or a fine of VND 100,000 to VND 300,000 for the act of selling sex;- A fine of VND 300,000 to VND 500,000 in cases of selling sex to multiple people at the same time.

Foreign individuals who sell sex will be subject to administrative penalties as per the above fines and will be deported from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Acts of buying sex from minors can be subject to criminal prosecution as per Article 256 of the Penal Code 1999 as follows:

1. Anyone who buys sex from a minor from 16 to under 18 years old shall be sentenced to one to five years of imprisonment.2. Committing the crime in any of the following circumstances shall be sentenced to three to eight years of imprisonment:a) Committing the crime multiple times;b) Buying sex from a minor aged from 13 to under 16 years old;c) Causing harm to the health of the victim with a disability rate of 31% to 60%.3. Committing the crime in any of the following circumstances shall be sentenced to seven to fifteen years of imprisonment:a) Committing the crime multiple times with minors aged from 13 to under 16 years old;b) Knowing that they are infected with HIV but still committing the crime;c) Causing harm to the health of the victim with a disability rate of 61% or more.4. Offenders may also be fined between VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000.

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