FROM LEGAL COMMITMENTS TO EFFECTIVE PROTECTION: A SOCIO-LEGAL REVIEW OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE PREVENTION IN VIETNAM

Child sexual abuse constitutes one of the most serious violations of children’s rights, generating profound and long-lasting consequences for individual well-being and social development. Despite increasing international attention and legal reform efforts, many countries continue to face significant challenges in translating formal legal commitments into effective protection for children. This article adopts a socio-legal and multidisciplinary approach to examine the protection of children from sexual abuse in Vietnam, integrating human rights theory, behavioural psychology, criminology, empirical evidence, and legal analysis. Drawing on international standards, national legislation, official reports, and existing academic research, the article analyses the scale and characteristics of child sexual abuse in Vietnam, the institutional and legal frameworks governing child protection, and the principal obstacles to effective implementation. The findings reveal a persistent gap between formal legal compliance and substantive realisation of children’s rights, manifested in under-reporting, procedural deficiencies, limited child-friendly justice mechanisms, and fragmented institutional coordination. By applying the Theory of Planned Behavior and criminological perspectives, the article explains why punitive legal measures alone have limited preventive impact in contexts where social norms discourage disclosure and institutional responses are perceived as inaccessible or ineffective. The study argues that effective protection of children from sexual abuse requires a shift from a predominantly reactive, criminal-justice-centred model towards a holistic, rights-based, and child-centred protection system that prioritises prevention, child-friendly justice, and long-term recovery. The article contributes to interdisciplinary scholarship on child protection by demonstrating the value of integrating legal analysis with behavioural and social science insights, and by offering policy-oriented recommendations to strengthen the effective realisation of children’s rights in Vietnam and comparable contexts.