COPING WITH LIFE
after a daughter's disapearance
In the remote north of Vietnam, girls are disappearing. These girls, some as young as 13, are victims of bride trafficking, having been kidnapped and taken to China to be sold into marriage.
According to child rights organization Plan International, this type of forced marriage has been growing slowly but steadily over the past decade.
Exacerbated by a decades-long one-child policy, preference for son is deeply embedded within Chinese society, leading to a growing gender imbalance within the country.
Although reports vary, prospective husbands can be expected to pay as much as $16,000 for a wife in some parts of China – a price that is out of reach of the vast majority. By contrast, the cost of a bride from Vietnam is only around $5,000 – and it is this more affordable option that is driving the trafficking trade and ripping Vietnamese girls’ lives and the lives of their families apart.
Respect, love, our values... How can we even dare to witness a situation where thousands of questions remain unanswered?
Vtremeau
