Some 4,300 children sexual abuse cases consulted by Vietnamese labour ministry in 2012-2017

HANOI, June 12 (Xinhua) — Over 4,300 cases of child sexual abuse in Vietnam have asked for phone consultation in 2012-2017, according to the countrys labor ministry on Monday.

In the five-year period, child sexual abuse accounted for more than 3 percent of the total cases consulted, said Nguyen Thuan Hai, head of Consulting Section under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA).

In the first quarter of 2017, a total of 395 cases received consultation related to childhood sexual harassment, said Hai.

In recent years, the issue has become increasingly complicated in Vietnam with 1,200 children reported being sexually abused in 2016 while some 5,300 children suffered between 2011 and 2015, according to the MoLISAs statistics.

However, the ministry admitted that the reported number may be only the tip of the iceberg since more cases remained undetected. In Vietnam, sexual abuse, especially of children, is such a culturally sensitive issue that the families of both victims and offenders do not want such incidents to be publicly revealed.

Due to the seriousness of the situation, MoLISA has taken 2017 as the year to fight against child sexual abuse.