PREVENTING SEXUAL ABUSE OF PEOPLE UNDER 16 YEARS OLD THROUGH THE USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKS IN VIETNAM

ABSTRACT

In recent times, Vietnam has issued many legal documents to internalize the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and create a legal corridor to handle acts of violation of children's rights. In particular, the activity of building sanctions to handle crimes against children in general and child sexual abuse in particular has received special attention. The article studies the current situation of crimes using social networks to sexually abuse people under 16 years old in Vietnam.

АННОТАЦИЯ

В последнее время Вьетнам издал множество правовых документов с целью включения положений Конвенции ООН о правах ребенка в свое законодательство и создания правового коридора для рассмотрения случаев нарушения прав детей. В частности, особое внимание уделяется деятельности по разработке санкций за преступления против детей в целом и сексуальное насилие над детьми в частности. Исследовательская статья о текущей ситуации с преступниками, использующими социальные сети для сексуального насилия над лицами младше 16 лет во Вьетнаме.

Keywords: Rights of the Child, crimes, social networks, people under 16 years old, Vietnam.

Ключевые слова: права ребенка, преступления, социальные сети, лица, недостигшие 16 лет, Вьетнам.

Protecting children's rights is always a top concern of the international community in general and Vietnam in particular. According to the 1989 International Convention on the Rights of the Child, a child is any person under the age of 18. Children, “due to their physical and mental immaturity, need special care and protection, including appropriate legal protection before and after birth”. Vietnam is the first country in Asia and the second country in the world to sign and ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. In recent times, Vietnam has issued many legal documents to internalize the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and create a legal corridor to handle acts of violation of children's rights. In particular, the activity of building sanctions to handle crimes against children in general and child sexual abuse in particular has received special attention.

According to the report at the Conference to review 2 years of implementing the Plan to prevent and combat crimes against children and prevent crimes and violations of the law related to people under 18 years old in the period of 2021-2025 of the Ministry of Public Security, 3,748 cases of child abuse crimes were detected nationwide, with 4,354 subjects, abusing 3,907 children. Compared to the same period in 2019 - 2020, there was a decrease of 220 cases = 5.5%, 218 children = 5.3%. Of which, child rape: 1,193 cases/1,260 subjects/abuse of 1,218 children; child rape: 29 cases/30 subjects/abuse of 29 children; sexual intercourse with children: 1,362 cases/1,369 subjects/abuse of 1,364 children.

Crimes of sexual abuse of people under 16 years old are understood as a group of socially dangerous acts prescribed in criminal law, committed by people with criminal responsibility, intentionally violating the inviolable rights to sex, honor, dignity; the normal physical and psychological development of people under 16 years old, affecting social order and safety. Article 1 of the Law on Children passed by the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on April 5, 2016: “Children are people under 16 years old”. Sexual abuse in general is the sexual activity of an object against the will of the abused person. Sexual abuse of people under 16 years old is the use of people under 16 years old for sexual activity.

From the perspective of criminological research, the act of using social networks to sexually abuse people under 16 years old can be understood from two perspectives: First, the subject uses social networks as a place of operation, considering social networks as a field to carry out acts such as: producing, buying, selling, storing, using pornographic images of people under 16 years old; using social networks to entice, force people under 16 years old to take photos, film for the purpose of distributing, buying and selling online or the subject uses social networks to broker, invite others to participate in prostitution activities including using people under 16 years old. Second, the subject uses social networks as a means to approach, get acquainted, then force, deceive, in order to commit acts of sexual abuse of people under 16 years old. Based on the awareness of social networks and crimes of sexual abuse of people under 16 years old, it is possible to perceive the crime of sexual abuse of people under 16 years old by using social networks as follows: The crime of sexual abuse of people under 16 years old by using social networks is an act committed by a person with criminal responsibility by using a service connecting members on the internet to approach, get acquainted, seduce, deceive, control children and commit acts of sexual abuse of people under 16 years old, violating the inviolability of the body, sexuality, spirit, honor, dignity and normal development of children and must be criminally prosecuted.

The methods of using social networks to sexually abuse people under 16 years old are identified as follows:

- Using social networks to get to know and form friendships with children, many subjects use images that are approachable and friendly, educated, thoughtful, experienced, sympathetic to people under 16 years old, they even play on the psychology and interests of people under 16 years old to create opportunities to get to know them.

- Many subjects use social networks to collect private personal information of people under 16 years old: to be able to easily approach, grasp the psychology and weaknesses of people under 16 years old. Forming a unique close friendship with people under 16 years old: grasping the weaknesses of people under 16 years old, with their experience, the subjects will make children trust, depend on them, consider them as a confidant to share the most intimate things in life. Many people also take advantage of the child's existing acquaintances to create familiarity with the child, such as through Facebook (социальная сеть, запрещенная на территории РФ, как порождение организации «Мета», признана экстремистской — ред.) friends, and groups of people under 16 years old. - Using social networks to direct online conversations to sexual topics: after becoming close to the child, the scammer directs the topic of conversations with people under 16 years old from daily life, study, family to issues related to sex.

- Using social networks to show people under 16 years old images of people under 16 years old being sexually abused so that they consider it normal and then entice people under 16 years old to participate in some sexual activities online such as sex chat. - Using connection services on social networks, luring people under 16 years old to meet in person to sexually abuse: this is a situation that is very easy to encounter in reality and is often the ultimate goal of the subject sexually abusing people under 16 years old online.

Prevention and control of crimes of sexual abuse against people under 16 years old by using social networks

Decision No. 523/QD-TTg dated April 14, 2016 of the Prime Minister of Vietnam approving the National Strategy for Crime Prevention, in Clause c, Point 1, Article 1 stipulates: Concentrating forces, using a combination of measures, proactively preventing, actively fighting and preventing crimes, in which prevention is the main focus; closely combining social prevention with professional prevention; promptly overcoming existing limitations, clarifying the causes and conditions for crime; attaching importance to social prevention from the community, family and right from the grassroots; propagating, educating, and disseminating laws to raise vigilance, sense of responsibility for law enforcement, actively and voluntarily participating in the fight against crime. Proactively attacking and suppressing crimes, promptly detecting. Investigate and strictly handle all criminal acts, associated with strengthening inspection and examination of law enforcement, not allowing injustice, mistakes, or criminals to escape, strictly prohibiting forced confessions and torture. In particular, crime prevention is a system of measures of the State and society to overcome the causes and conditions of crime, reducing crime. Crime prevention is the guiding ideology in the fight against crime, including forms and measures taken to prevent crime from occurring. If a crime occurs, the consequences and harm must be minimized.

The prevention and combat of crimes of sexual abuse against people under 16 years old by using social networks is also a specific content of the prevention and combat of crimes of sexual abuse against people under 16 years old in general, which belongs to the combat function of the police force. However, for this type of crime, the prevention and combat activities of the police force have their own specific characteristics, stemming from the specific characteristics of crimes of sexual abuse, which are that the subjects use social networks in the process of committing the crime. Therefore, in addition to the common characteristics, the prevention and combat of crimes of sexual abuse against people under 16 years old by using social networks according to the function of the police force also has the following outstanding characteristics: - The prevention and combat of crimes of sexual abuse against people under 16 years old by using social networks is carried out in both real space and cyberspace. In which, propaganda and education to raise awareness for people under 16 years old on social networking environment is a very important content.

Like other types of crimes, the subjects who commit sexual abuse of people under 16 years old by using social networks are always real people. Therefore, in the process of committing crimes, the subjects always have specific activities in daily life, reflecting in the real world that the authorities can perceive. However, unlike other forms of sexual abuse of people under 16 years old, the subjects who commit sexual abuse of people under 16 years old by using social networks use social networks as the main area for criminal activities. The activities of these subjects mainly take place on the Internet environment. Therefore, the work of preventing and combating crimes of sexual abuse of people under 16 years old by using social networks must be carried out on the basis of closely combining crime prevention and combat activities in real life and prevention and combat activities on the Internet to ensure comprehensiveness and completeness. - Activities to prevent and combat crimes of sexual abuse against people under 16 years old using social networks are independent of administrative boundaries and geography and must be coordinated with many relevant forces.

Although sexual abuse of people under 16 years old is strongly and fiercely fought by most countries in the world. However, different countries have different levels of development and social management, especially underdeveloped and developing countries. For these countries, including Vietnam, social management in general and management of Internet use in particular still have many shortcomings and limitations. Criminals who use high technology in general and commit crimes of sexual abuse of people under 16 years old by using social networks often take advantage of these loopholes in the process of committing crimes. Because the Internet is an electronic space without borders, subjects can completely commit acts of sexual abuse of people under 16 years old by using social networks from abroad. Because they are not affected by spatial conditions and geographical barriers, the activities of criminals who sexually abuse people under 16 years old using social networks are not limited to a region or a country. They can commit crimes in all provinces and cities in a country, even abroad. Therefore, the police force's activities to prevent and combat this type of crime must also be considered and carried out not only on an administrative geographical scale but also on a national and international scale.

- The process of preventing and combating crimes of sexual abuse against people under 16 years old by using social networks requires the police force to have knowledge of social networks and information technology.

The subjects of sexual abuse of people under 16 years old by using social networks are often carried out on the Internet environment. Information and documents reflecting the process of committing crimes by the subjects are often stored in the form of "electronic data". Detecting, collecting, evaluating and using this information and documents is often very difficult because the existence of electronic data depends on the time, the process of setting up storage, storage devices... At the same time, this data is also very easy to be changed by the subjects, hidden, encrypted, deleted or lost, leading to very difficult collection and recovery if not exploited properly and promptly.

Therefore, in order to collect information and documents to serve the prevention and combat of crimes of sexual abuse against people under 16 years old by using social networks, the police force needs to use scientific and technical measures, through specialized equipment and must have certain knowledge of information technology.

- The work of preventing and combating crimes of sexual abuse against people under 16 years old by using social networks is associated with the management of companies providing social network services and Internet business locations.

To access social networks, criminals who sexually abuse people under 16 years old using social networks must register, install and download apps from service providers. Service providers can completely manage and control the use of information on these accounts. Therefore, the police force needs to coordinate with companies that do business and provide social network services to promptly detect subjects who show signs and behaviors of sexual stimulation towards people under 16 years old.

References:

1. Criminal Code of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam dated November 27, 2015 No. 100/2015/QH13. /URL: https://www.policinglaw.info/assets/downloads/2015_Criminal_Code_of_Vietnam_(English_translation).pdf (date of request 21.04.2025)
2. Law of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam dated June 20, 2017 No. 12/2017/QH14 “On Amending and Supplementing the Criminal Code of 2015” /URL: https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/legislation/details/20940  (date of request 21.04.2025)