Supervisor Assoc, Prof, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Hai and Assoc, Prof, Dr. Nguyen Thi Phuong Hoa.
Training institution Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics.
Summary of the new results of the thesis:
Aim and object of the research:
The dissertation seeks to improve the legal framework and the mechanisms for protecting the human rights of victims of human trafficking in Vietnam.
It constructs a theoretical framework, systematises current practice, identifies the gaps in prevailing understanding and legislation, and proposes measures to make protection more effective.
Its object of study comprises the theoretical, legal and practical issues, together with the policy orientations and solutions, relating to the protection of the human rights of trafficking victims in Vietnam.
Research methods: Four methods are combined.
(i) Doctrinal legal analysis systematises legislation, case law and international treaties to clarify the rules in force and the underlying structure of rights and obligations, running through the study from establishing standards to formulating reform proposals.
(ii) Comparative legal analysis measures Vietnamese law against international standards and the experience of selected jurisdictions, identifying points of compatibility, regulatory gaps and good practices worth adopting.
(iii) Case-study analysis examines representative judgments in Chapter 3 to show how the law is applied and where victim identification and rights protection fall short.
(iv) Semi-structured in-depth interviews with victims and front-line officials supply empirical evidence of the gap between legal norms and practice, grounding the recommendations in Chapter 4.
Theoretical significance:
The dissertation enriches Vietnamese legal scholarship on the protection of the human rights of vulnerable groups.
By grounding the protection of trafficking victims in human rights and adopting a victim-centred approach, it addresses the limitations of the conventional approach, which treats victims merely as injured parties in criminal proceedings.
Clarifying the relationship between specialised anti-trafficking legislation and adjacent fields of law, it also advances an interdisciplinary understanding of the victim-protection regime.
Practical significance:
The dissertation places the human person, with their dignity and agency, at the centre of protection. Where victims are recognised as rights-holders rather than passive recipients of assistance, their needs for safety, support, recovery and reintegration are met more sustainably and the risk of íntrumentalising victims is reduced.
The findings offer an analytical framework for assessing the compatibility of Vietnamese law with international standards, and thus a basis for policy reform, while fostering public awareness of human rights and justice, in line with Vietnam’s commitment to building a socialist rule-of-law state and with its international obligations.
Principal findings:
First, the dissertation develops a theoretical framework combining dignity theory, intersectional feminism and legal positivism, distinguishing substantive rights (life, liberty, personal security and freedom from slavery) from procedural rights (identification as a victim, protection, information, non-punishment, compensation, assistance, temporary residence and repatriation).
Second, it assesses the law and its implementation, finding a multi-layered framework that is relatively complete on paper but separated from practice by a substantial gap, marked by a discretionary “request-and-grant” logic and the absence of a consistently victim-centred approach.
Third, comparison with international standards confirms the need to move from a criminal justice approach to a human rights-based one.
Fourth, it proposes a coherent set of solutions covering legislative reform, the practical application of the law, and the enabling conditions required for effective protection.