Vietnam child abuse cases rise 5% in Q1, most involving sexual abuse

Nguyen Thi Nga, deputy director of the Ministry of Health's Department of Maternal and Child Health, said at an event in Hanoi marking the 2026 Month of Action for Children that authorities had prosecuted 649 suspects in the cases, including incidents involving sexual assault, violence, human trafficking, and online exploitation of minors.

She said authorities also recorded 50 cases of indecent acts against children, 21 cases of intentional injury, eight child murders, and four trafficking cases involving minors under 16.

Nga said some sexual abuse cases involved suspects using weapons or financial inducements to repeatedly assault victims, while online platforms were increasingly being used to lure and exploit children.

Many abuse cases remained undetected for long periods because they occurred within families or were not promptly reported to authorities, including cases involving stepfathers, partners of mothers or other relatives.

Nga said Vietnam still lacked sufficient child protection personnel at the local level despite requirements under the 2017 Law on Children, making it difficult for authorities to identify and monitor children at high risk of abuse.

The Ministry of Health is revising the Law on Children and related regulations, while planning a national program to strengthen child protection services and establish round-the-clock child protection networks at all commune-level administrations by 2027.

Vietnam currently has more than 500 public and private child protection service facilities nationwide, though officials said the system still needed to be expanded and improved.