Vietnam study finds street kids abused, using drugs, urges help

From Thanh Nien News

A., a street child living in Saigon parks, was approached by some men who got him food and clothes and appeared kind.

Photo of street children

They took him to a restaurant and a café for the first time, and around the city ostensibly for him to have fun.

“They treated me nicely,” the 17-year-old said.

And then they raped him, something he did not know happened to boys.

But it was by no means an unusual happening. A study released at a conference in Hanoi Tuesday said that virtually all street children in Saigon (92.5 percent) have been victims of sexual abuse.

The victims usually do not report it to the police due to embarrassment, the feeling of doing something bad, or because they were warned not to complain, according to the authors of the study, the Hanoi-based Research Center for Management and Sustainable Development (MSD) and public health NGO Fontana which has offices in Vietnam and Denmark.

Hoang Thu Trang of MSD said the abuses include hugs and kisses, touching of private parts, and being shown pornography.

The abuse left the victims scarred, even suicidal.

The study also found that 98.3 percent of street children in the city have used substances like alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, heroin, meth, adhesive, or even gasoline at least once.

Usually the sexual abuse and drugs went hand in hand.

A 16-year-old street boy identified only as T.V.H., a sex worker — the study includes underage sex work in abuse — told the study team that one time he shared a syringe with his customer.

“If I refuse, they would not pay me.”

The study found that many children do not even realize they are abused.

Read the full story from Thanh Nien News.