Justice and development: the transnational bride trafficking from Vietnam to China

Purpose - This paper aims to provide an overview of transnational bride trafficking from Vietnam to China, enriching the human trafficking literature with the Vietnamese perspective. It proposes to analyze this bride trade in the developmental context and outline how the supplies and demands for brides root in socio-economical-legal forces such as poverty, lack of law enforcement and culture. This study also brings to attention the involvement of organized crime and collusion of government officials as the main drivers of the trafficking activities. Design/methodology/approach - This paper opts for an analytical study using published data, including newspaper reports, previous research studies and public records. The data were complemented by the analysis of the trafficking victim’s stories, descriptions of trafficking activities, copies of statistics and the examination of the legal framework that concerns human trafficking in China and Vietnam. Findings - This paper provides empirical insights into how transnational bride trafficking is brought about. It suggests that while the vulnerability to trafficking stems primarily from developmental forces, the most crucial element that makes this transnational bride trafficking possible is the involvement of organized crime. Research limitations/implications - Because of the chosen research approach, this paper lacks originality in data, and some data might not be up-to-date because of the lack of sufficient interest. Practical implications - This paper includes implications for developing a more nuanced understanding of transnational bride trafficking and the development of new policies that could remedy the issue. Originality/value - Despite the fact that Vietnam is among countries most affected by human trafficking, there are only a few studies from the Vietnamese perspective. This paper fulfills the need to enrich the debate by providing an informative work on bride trafficking in Vietnam.