Đan Thanh wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on July 18, 2025. Đàm Vĩnh Hằng translated it into English for The Vietnamese Magazine.
A growing public controversy has engulfed Nhã Nam Publishing House, one of Việt Nam’s most prominent book publishers, following allegations of sexual harassment against a former executive and the subsequent fallout involving prominent author Đặng Hoàng Giang.
Administrative Sanctions for Đặng Hoàng Giang
In July 2025, Hà Nội’s Security Investigation Agency recommended administrative sanctions against Đặng Hoàng Giang, the author of “Being Good, Being Evil, and the Smartphone,” including the potential revocation of his work permit. He was accused of sharing “false information” that allegedly defamed Nguyễn Nhật Anh, the former General Director of Nhã Nam.
This recommendation is the latest development in a controversy that began in April 2024, when Nhã Nam removed Nguyễn Nhật Anh from his position following internal allegations of sexual harassment by a female staff member. The company issued a public apology and a seven-point commitment to transparency, but has provided no updates since. Instead, reports emerged in July 2025 that Nguyễn Nhật Anh had been quietly reinstated.
Police: No Criminal Elements Found
Despite the public outcry over the initial allegations, Hà Nội police concluded their investigation by finding no criminal violations in the conduct of Nguyễn Nhật Anh and decided not to pursue the complaint filed by B.T.H., the former Nhã Nam employee who made the harassment claim.
This decision triggered fierce public debate about Việt Nam’s legal system, which lacks clear provisions on sexual harassment. According to Dr. Vũ Hoàng Linh, Việt Nam’s criminal code still has no explicit category for such offenses, limiting the scope of legal intervention.
“The whole thing remains a black box,” said Dr. Linh, reflecting a widely held concern over the process.
This sentiment was echoed by social media commentator Dương Quốc Chinh, who described sexual harassment as “quite an obscure concept in Việt Nam.” He argued that it is difficult to determine who is right and who is wrong in these cases, “partly because the law is not clear about this, and partly because social concepts are not consistent.”
Critics Question Law Enforcement Response
Critics also questioned the rationale for punishing Đặng Hoàng Giang, whose only direct actions were to end his cooperation with Nhã Nam and later publicly disclose that the victim was a family member.
Dr. Nguyễn Hoàng Ánh raised two key concerns: Why was the accuser blamed for “false information” when Nguyễn Nhật Anh himself had issued a public apology? And why was an author penalized for speaking out on an issue he was not officially a party to?
“If people like [Đặng Hoàng Giang] are punished for making the allegations, who will dare speak up again?” she asked.
Others pointed to a fundamental problem: Most incidents of sexual harassment occur in private, without witnesses, making them nearly impossible to prosecute. “A case’s dismissal doesn’t necessarily mean the victim lied,” wrote legal expert Lương Thế Huy. “It often just means there wasn’t enough evidence presented.”
The public-facing events began in mid-April 2024. On April 11 and April 14, Đặng Hoàng Giang made two general posts on Facebook about sexual harassment, alluding to conversations he had with a survivor. Then, on April 15, he announced that he was ceasing his long-time collaboration with Nhã Nam Publishing House.
“Over the past nine years, Nhã Nam and I have worked together to publish five books, bringing nearly a quarter of a million copies to readers […]. This was a carefully considered and thought-out decision, and is the result of a situation that I recently learned about,” Giang wrote.
He followed up on April 17 with a more detailed account of the survivor’s experience wherein Giang criticized the tendency of some managers, mentors, and senior figures—described as “bosses, uncles, and teachers”—to rationalize their inappropriate behavior as “well-meaning, innocent, or without malice.”
The publisher responded on April 18, first with a now-deleted apology from General Director Nguyễn Nhật Anh, who admitted to showing “affection” to a female employee. Later that day, Nhã Nam released a more formal statement with a seven-point commitment, pledging to suspend Anh, cooperate with authorities, and apologize to the victim.
The situation escalated on April 20, when Giang posted again, this time explaining that the survivor was his relative and explicitly naming Nguyễn Nhật Anh as the person responsible for the incident.
This direct accusation was met with legal action. On June 10, 2024, both Nhã Nam and Nguyễn Nhật Anh filed defamation complaints against Giang. In response, on June 21, Giang publicly criticized Nhã Nam for failing to act on its promises and revealed that B.T.H. had also reported other staff for ignoring her initial complaints.
After this, Nhã Nam made no further public disclosures on the matter. The story went quiet for over a year until July 21, 2025, when local media reported that Nguyễn Nhật Anh had been quietly reinstated to his leadership role, reigniting the public controversy.
Who is Đặng Hoàng Giang?
Born in Hà Nội in 1966, Đặng Hoàng Giang is a prominent Vietnamese-Austrian public intellectual, social advocate, and author. He holds a PhD from the Vienna University of Technology and lived in Austria for two decades before becoming a significant voice in Việt Nam’s literary scene.
Over a nine-year partnership with Nhã Nam, he published five notable books, including Black Ocean and The Destination of Life. His work has had a significant cultural impact; as of March 2024, Nhã Nam ranked him among its “top six” authors, an excerpt from his book (Being Good, Being Evil, and the Smartphone) appeared in the 2017 national high school graduation exam, and his works have been adapted into popular audiobooks.
Now, Giang continues to focus on writing and public dialogue, though his future publishing collaborations in Việt Nam may now be uncertain.
A Pattern of Silence, A Reckoning Overdue
The controversy surrounding Nhã Nam echoes the high-profile case of Dạ Thảo Phương. On April 6, 2022 she accused fellow poet Lương Ngọc An of an attempted rape that allegedly occurred two decades earlier. For years, her complaints were reportedly ignored by both their employer, Văn Nghệ newspaper, and the Việt Nam Writers Association.
The issue only came to a head in late 2024, when An was appointed deputy editor of Writer and Life magazine. Just weeks later, on Jan. 3, 2025, the Việt Nam Writers’ Association rescinded his appointment amid intense criticism from intellectuals and activists.
Together, these cases underscore the systemic challenges Việt Nam faces in handling sexual harassment. They have spurred legal experts and civil society advocates to urge the government to create clear legal definitions and procedures for investigating and prosecuting such allegations. Until that happens, a harsh reality remains: victims are incentivized to suffer in silence, while those who speak up on their behalf risk facing legal sanctions and professional retaliation.