Denial and hypocrisy fuel growing sex trade HANOI - Authorities concede they are struggling to control the booming sex trade but say hypocrisy and society's denial the problem exists are significant factors behind its expansion. The trend is underpinned by a decade of economic growth, which has brought freedom and unprecedented prosperity. But not for all. Urban incomes average four times those in rural areas, which has created an enormous economic underclass and drives thousands of young women from the countryside to the big cities. "We are seeing women flocking to the cities, where they think they can earn good money working in hotels, bars and restaurants," said Nguyen Kim Khuong, of the Hanoi Women's Union. "Initially they never think of selling their bodies, but then they find they can't find a job." Even for those lucky enough to find work, pay for the unskilled is so low they struggle to make ends meet, let alone provide for their often desperately poor families. Statistics show nearly 40 per cent of Vietnam's hotels, karaoke bars, restaurants and beauty salons double as fronts for prostitution. Commercial sex is so widespread that to venture alone into the central districts of Vietnam's cities is to invite a barrage of propositions. "These two guys had a couple of young women each on their motorbikes, they cut me off and insisted that I take at least one of the girls," said an expatriate. "They really got quite aggressive and only backed off when I told them that I just had a woman," he said. Other residents complain of harassment while strolling around the lakes of supposedly conservative Hanoi, and authorities are often quick to blame foreigners for creating the demand for commercial sex. But, a recent government report shows 60 to 70 per cent of clients are state employees. Ms Nguyen said it was this official complicity, together with a pervasive denial of the problem, that were really driving the exploitation of the sex workers. "Prostitution is condemned by the whole of society and prostitutes are terrified that their families will discover and abandon them because of what they do for a living. "Many want to stop, but the bosses threaten to tell their families and so they just keep sending money home - it's a never-ending circle. "Their friends and families don't know, or don't want to know, what they actually do in the cities. All they know is that the money is good." Of Vietnam's registered commercial sex workers, 15 per cent are aged under 18, according to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs. Since 1997, teenage prostitutes have not faced criminal charges but instead have been sent to rehabilitation centres. However, according to a ministry report, nearly 80 per cent of those apprehended in 1998 have returned to prostitution. The highest rate of teenage prostitution occurs in southern Vietnam. By Huw Watkin - South China Morning Post - March 4, 2000.