Nguyen Thi Hanh, deputy director of the Administrative – Criminal Law Department under the Justice Ministry, said the country may add a statue barring the offering of sexual favors to the country's existing statues on bribery. Photo: Thai Son

Legislators are considering whether or not to outlaw the quid pro quo offering of sexual favors in their upcoming amendments to the penal code, according to the Ministry of Justice.

Several experts have called for the body to put the previously unregulated crime on the books.

Nguyen Thi Hanh, deputy director of the ministry's Administrative – Criminal Law Department said the legislators carefully discussed the matter during a session on Wednesday.

“This is a new crime that merits thorough discussion. We have yet to decide whether the draft will include it or not,” she said.

During a previous press conference on the country's existing criminal bribery statues, Nguyen Doan Khanh, the Party’s Central Committee’s Commission for Internal Affairs said many international experts recommended that Vietnam specifically write laws to address all forms of corruption.

Khanh said the existing Penal Code only contains statues that pertain to material bribes.

“However, in reality, there are many non-material means to influence the decision-making process like the offering of official titles or sex. In reality there have been instances of sexual bribery in Vietnam.”