Collective of Sex Workers and Supporters secretary Chien Chia-ying (簡嘉瑩) said Cheng’s proposal was one that sex workers would be happy to see.
“The sex industry has always existed and if we want to give sex workers better protection, we should look at it as just a job, a regular occupation just like all others,” Chien said. “If we see it as just a regular job, of course neither the worker nor the consumer should be punished by the law.”
Although a supporter of not penalizing sex workers, Garden of Hope Foundation executive director Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容) said she was against legalizing the sex industry.
“We believe that sex workers should not be punished because many of them are economically disadvantaged and have no other choice,” Chi said.
“But as a group that have long been working to prevent child prostitution and human trafficking, we’re against the sex industry and against the idea that sex can be sold or bought,” she said.
Chi said buying sex should still be punished because “if there’s no demand, there won’t be the supply.”
“If prostitution was legalized, society would have twisted values about sex — how could parents tell their children not to become prostitutes if the sex industry was legalized?” Chi said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG AND AFP
RSS