From perceptions to reality: a qualitative study on female youth migration and sexual exploitation in Northern Vietnam
Rushing, Rosanne Marie;
(2005)
From perceptions to reality: a qualitative study on female youth migration and sexual exploitation in Northern Vietnam.
DrPH thesis, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17037/PUBS.00768482
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Young women migrate from rural to urban areas for a multitude of reasons. As girls are
encouraged to migrate into the city to find work, many are lured or tricked into selling
sex to earn money. This study investigates the factors pushing a young woman from
her village, pulling her to the city and the facilitating factors that enable her exploitation
through migration and sex work.
This thesis discusses the current literature on migration and sexual exploitation and
addresses the gaps in information from literature and from previous studies conducted
in Viet Nam and regionally. The conceptual framework for this study illustrates that
young women's migration and sexual exploitation in Viet Nam is influenced and then
facilitated by numerous factors acting at national, communal, familial and individual
levels. It also discusses the implications of the research findings for interventions and
policies that aim to reduce levels of exploitation of young women through migration and
sex work.
In-depth interviews took place with 20 randomly selected female migrants currently
working as sex workers in northern Viet Nam. In-depth interviews were also conducted
with 23 families in rural areas known to have children working in a city to help support
the family. Additionally, key informant interviews were conducted with provincial and
community leaders in both the rural and urban areas of this study.
This thesis describes and analyses a qualitative study, which explores the decisionmaking
for youth migration, the communication processes between a child and parent
and the facilitating factors that influence a daughters exploitation through migration
and sex work. In addition, the thesis explores the affects of migration and sex work on
a young women.