Facing gender ratio crisis, Vietnam proposes tougher laws on sex selection

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.

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.