A group of prostitutes and advocates for the rights of sex workers yesterday denounced Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for depriving prostitutes of their right to work and urged the Taipei City Govern-ment to legitimize prostitution.
After Taipei criminalized prostitution in 1997, the brothels in Wanhua District (
"Banning prostitution violates the spirit of the Constitution, which protects [the people's] right to work. The city government should help us seek solutions, instead of dodging the responsibility by saying that it can do nothing but follow the law," said Wang Fang-ping (
Wang said that he city government has clamped down on 9,796 illegal prostitutes over the past seven years in accordance with the Law of Maintaining Public Order (
Of the 128 prostitutes in the city, more than 66 percent went underground after the law was promulgated, while 6.4 percent committed suicide, Wang said.
As current laws punish prostitutes, but not brothel owners or pimps, Wang said that the city government should defend the livelihoods of the disadvantaged group, legalize prostitution in the city and push for the central government to do the same.
Ma, citing the example of thriving illegal brothels in the Netherlands despite the legalization of prostitution, argued that the city government had no choice but to follow the law.
"Legalizing prostitution would spark controversy ... It will also take a long time before the public can accept licensed brothels being set up in their districts," Ma told the group.
After then mayor Chen Shui-bian (
The city government has spent about NT$63 million to provide job training and employment search services to workers in the sex industry. Some say, however, that they had found it hard to survive in other industries given their lack of skills and fear of discrimination.
"We used to rely on ourselves to make money. Now we are wasting taxpayers' money. Why don't you just legalize prostitution?" said Li Chun, a prostitute who only wanted to be identified by her nickname.
Ma promised to hold public hearings, inviting sex workers and legislators to raise public awareness on the issue before pushing for amending the laws.
"It took Holland 200 years before prostitution was legalized. Don't think that it's easy to change public attitude towards prostitution. This is a problem that can't be solved quickly," he said.
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau audited six hotels in an effort to prevent price gouging ahead of Korean band BTS’ concert tour in the city scheduled for Nov. 19, 21 and 22 this year. The bureau on Friday said that the audits — conducted in response to allegations of unfair pricing posted on social media — found no wrongdoing. These establishments included the local branches of Chateau de Chine, Hotel Nikko, My Humble House, and Grand Hai Lai, it said, adding that the Consumer Protection Commission would have penalized price gougers had the accusations been substantiated. The bureau said the Tourism Development Act
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) said a magnitude 4.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan yesterday was an independent event and part of a stress-adjustment process. The earthquake occurred at 4:47pm, with its epicenter at sea about 45.4km south of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 5.9km, the CWA said. The quake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in several townships in Yilan and neighboring Hualien County, where it measured 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the CWA said. Lin Po-yu (林柏佑), a division chief at the CWA's Seismological Center, told a news conference
RSS