Accompanied by legislators across party lines, women’s groups yesterday slammed the military for lacking education in discipline, ethics and legal training after a scandal last month in which more than 20 officers were involved in hiring underage prostitutes.
Last month, a Navy lieutenant surnamed Wang (王) was caught in Kaohsiung hiring a prostitute under 18 years old, nicknamed Hsiao Chen (小真). The military launched a probe into the case and found that 23 soldiers and officers had all been in touch with Chen and two other underage prostitutes because of Wang’s recommendation.
While prostitution is banned in the Criminal Code (刑法), hiring an underage prostitute also violates the Act against Sexual Transaction for Children and Teenagers (兒童及青少年性交易防治法).
“It is unthinkable that our military officer, who is supposed to protect our security and social stability, not only hired underage prostitutes, but also acted as the go-between for more transactions,” Women’s Rescue Foundation executive director Cynthia Kao (高小晴) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan yesterday.
Kao then cited two other cases last year in which two officers were accused of raping civilian women, and questioned: “I wonder what happened to the education and training on discipline and gender equality in our military?”
Lee Li-fen (李麗芬), secretary of the International Campaign to End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism — Taiwan, agreed with Kao’s view and said she suspected that sex education provided by the Ministry of National Defense (MND) may be superficial.
“We know that the ministry tells soldiers about sex, but with the outbreak of so many sexual crimes in the military, I wonder if the MND includes professionals in the education, and talks to soldiers about sex and human rights in depth and with sufficient time,” Lee said.
Both Kao and Lee demanded extra punishment for military personnel committing sexual offenses.
Chang Shan-ton (張善東), director of the Military Discipline and Ethics Division, apologized on behalf of the MND for the scandal and said that there may not be sufficient education in the military on the subject, but said that well-planned sex education would soon be in place.
“By June, 80 percent of soldiers and officers will have attended the new courses,” Chang said at the press conference.
As for punishment, Chang said he could not interfere in the judicial process, but added: “We’ve given the severest administrative penalty possible to the 11 officers on whom we’ve completed our own investigation.”
Chang said that the 11 officers were given major demerits that would prevent them from further promotion in the military. They will automatically be removed from the military if they are later found guilty by the judiciary.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文), who both attended the press conference, promised they would work for amendments to give extra penalties to military personnel committing sexual offenses.
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