Child sex booms

GROWING child prostitution in Vietnam is being fuelled by Asian businessmen seeking local virgins to beat AIDS and bring luck for new business ventures, Unicef has warned.

Unicef country representative Stephen Woodhouse told Vietnam's police and the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union that clear and 'appropriately severe' laws were needed to beat international criminal networks bringing child molesters to Asia and smuggling children across Vietnam's borders.

He warned of increasing demand for child sexual partners due to 'increasing demand for material gratification' and an Asian superstition about sex with a virgin bringing good luck.

'It is also important for us to be aware that Thailand, Malaysia and elsewhere have also recognised child prostitution to be a serious social issue and are cracking down,' he said.

'The result will be a shift in demand to other countries in the region and this constitutes a real danger to Vietnam. The time to act is now.' Mr Woodhouse later said cases of both child-smuggling from China and Taiwanese businessmen frequenting child prostitutes in freewheeling Ho Chi Minh City had emerged, despite frequent crackdowns.