A sad side of Vietnam...

On a much more depressing note, I witnessed more prostitution in Vietnam than I had seen in any of the other ports we have been to thus far.  At this one restaurant that we went to several nights in a row, we saw young, skinny, Vietnamese women with old, wealthy-looking, American men.  As much as I wanted to believe that this was just a man and a woman that fell in love, it was pretty obvious that this was not the case.  I am disgusted by these men and feel so sorry for these poor women who are forced to resort to prostitution in order to survive.  Many of them were young girls that didn’t look older than 15.  It is hard not to imagine myself in their position if I had been born in Vietnam.

Although I knew the statistics about prostitution and sex trade from articles I read in my sexuality class, I was shocked at how out in the open it was, given the fact that I’d learned it was illegal.  For example, when Jane and I were out to dinner at a very nice restaurant called Mandarin, which was recommended by SAS, we asked the doormen if they knew anywhere we could go for dessert.  The small street that we were on appeared to be filled with nice little restaurants and bars, I was sure they would have a few suggestions for us.  Instead, they responded, “only Japanese bar.”  We were really confused and were sure they just hadn’t understood the words “ice cream” and “dessert” so we figured we would check it out for ourselves.  We walked across the street and looked into the first place we saw.  There were about 15 Vietnamese women wearing long silk dresses sitting on chairs that lined the wall.  We didn’t see any tables, food, or drinks.  Jane and I looked at each other and then at the name of the place, which was written in Vietnamese and was absolutely no help.  We looked next door and saw the same thing.  There were a few wealthy looking men going inside.  Almost every place on the street was the same, with the exception of one or two fancy restaurants, similar to the one we were just in.  After realizing that we were clearly not going to find ice cream, we got a cab to take us to an ice cream place that was located in the downtown area.

That night, Jane and I kept talking about what we had just seen and how crazy it was that these places existed out in the open.  Like I said, I knew it went on in restaurants and karaoke bars, but at least those places appeared to serve some other purpose.  A few days later I asked my tour guide about it.  He confirmed that prostitution is in fact illegal and that the law is very strictly enforced.  If a prostitute is caught, it is announced to the entire community and her reputation is ruined.  The reputation of her family is also compromised and sometimes the family will disassociate themselves from their daughter.  I asked about the street with all the “Japanese bars” and my tour guide explained that these bars exist for men’s entertainment.  The women are there to look beautiful and serve the men drinks.  I asked if it is similar to what Geishas are in Japan and he said it is very similar.  He explained that many times it will lead to prostitution but since the primary purpose is simply for men to enjoy the company of beautiful women, it is not illegal.