Women's groups call for end to crime of adultery

Five women's organizations yesterday called for abolition of the crime of adultery. But they said that, in order to prevent the misconception that this would further restrict, rather than expand, women's rights, the Civil Code should first be amended to protect women's property rights.

The issue has come to the fore in the wake of the sex-VCD furor surrounding former director of the Hsinchu Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Chu Mei-feng (璩美鳳), which, the groups said, seemed to highlight the commonplace nature of sex outside marriage.

The Awakening Foundation, Warm Life Association for Women, Taipei Awakening Association, Taiwan Women's Link, and Taipei Association for the Promotion of Women's Rights, made the call at a joint press conference yesterday.

Su Chien-ling (蘇芊玲) of the Awakening Foundation said that abolition of the crime of adultery is the ultimate aim of the organizations, because, "What supports a successful marriage is love, not the law. Even if the authorities can punish married people who have sexual intercourse with people other than their spouse, they cannot mend broken marriages."

Since adultery is grounds for divorce, the groups said, removing the offense from the Criminal Code may generate concern that when a husband's extra-marital liaisons result in divorce, the wife might lose not only her husband and, under the current regulations, her assets, but also her right to "justice" as represented by criminal penalties.

Current regulations give husband greater rights than wives over property which belongs to both, according to the Awakening Foundation's Tien Ting-fang (田庭芳).

The groups said that adultery is not a matter for the criminal justice system, but they called for certain aspects of family law contained within the Civil Code to be amended to protect women's property rights. They said this should be done before adultery is removed from the Criminal Code in order to avoid the misperception that women's rights to both "justice" and property are being eroded.

Wu Yueh-chen (吳月珍) of the Warm Life Association for Women, said the importance of the property rights issue is paramount.

"Current regulations give husbands the right to manage property belonging to their wives. Husbands preparing to divorce on grounds of adultery usually transfer their own assets to others, often resulting in the wife receiving insufficient funds," Wu said.

"The first step to protect wives is therefore to amend the current law to guarantee husbands and wives equal rights to manage each other's property and to prevent husbands from transferring the property to other people," she said.