Research by CARE and other organisations and law firms show that sexual harassment in the workplace does exist and negatively affects workers’ mental health and income, which in turn damages employers’ productivity and profits as their employees have to take longer leaves or quit jobs. Even harassed employees who choose to keep silence and continue working are able to put full effort into their works. A recent research by CARE in Cambodia revealed that sexual harassment cost the country’s garment industry 89 million USD, or an equivalent of 0.52% of Cambodia’s GDP in 2015. In Viet Nam, the International Labour Organisation disclosed that garment factories with less violence and harassment tend to earn higher profits than those with more.

An yet, we have not yet witnessed positive signals from the practical use of the Code of Conduct on Sexual Harassment in the workplace that was issued in 2015 by the Ministry of Labour, the Invalids and Social Affairs, and Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2015. According to a CARE research in 2017 conducted by Duane Morris law firm, the state of compliance and application of the Code can be divided into three groups. Group 1 consists of garment factories who are usually requested by international brands to refer to the Code of Conduct of these brands themselves; Group 2 includes factories that just copy and paste the whole Code of Conduct from Vietnam’s Labour Code to their internal policy; and the final one who “does nothing”.

There are quite a number of reasons leading to the overlook of sexual harassment by factories and firms. In Mr Binh’s words, no matter how big the economic damage is (such as the case of 89 million USD damage in Cambodia), it is likely that business owners will merely think it is not their problem. It is not their damage. Another reason that many experts and others agreed upon is the public perception of social and cultural responsibilities. For example, some gesture deemed as sexual harassment in one place can be seen as a harmless joke elsewhere.

Another crucial factor is the lack of legal provisions. The 2012 Labour Code of Viet Nam included four articles related to sexual harassment in the workplace, yet it has not provided a unified definition of sexual harassment nor does it pointed out behaviors considered as sexual harassment. It also falls short of a clear stipulation of obligations and responsibilities of employers. Neither does it provide a defined penalty frame for the harassers. In addition, “the workplace” is only limited to the premise of the office or headquarter or factory, and does not include other work-related settings such as a company party at a restaurant, workers’ dormitory, online harassment among coworkers, etc. Policymakers and practitioners in the field of anti-sexual harassment in Vietnam, however, agree that one of the biggest obstacles lie in the mixed usually low capabilities and awareness of the stakeholders in identifying and handling sexual harassment in the workplace.