Vietnam plans tougher penalties to curb illegal sex selection amid rising birth gender gap
Vietnam is planning to impose stiffer penalties for gender-based sex selection in pregnancy, as the government scrambles to address a deepening imbalance in the country's birth sex ratio – one of the worst in Asia.
A draft proposal from the health ministry would raise the maximum fine for such violations to 100 million Vietnamese dong (US$3,800), more than triple the current penalty.
Offences covered include disclosing the sex of a fetus, performing or facilitating sex-selective abortions, prescribing methods for selecting a baby's gender and coercing or persuading someone to terminate a pregnancy based on the fetus' sex.
The measure, part of the Population Bill now open for public consultation until June 12, aims to deter what authorities describe as a growing and illegal trend.
'This increase is necessary to ensure individuals and organisations think twice before engaging in such illegal acts,' the ministry said, according to state-linked media outlet VnExpress.
A group of Vietnamese children gather around a photographer. Photo: AP
Vietnam bans all forms of sex selection, but enforcement has long been patchy and penalties weak. The current maximum fine of 30 million dong has proven 'insufficient as a deterrent', according to the government's policy impact assessment of the bill.
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