Several women’s groups criticized the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) yesterday over its plan to decriminalize the sex industry, saying that doing so would only make the country a global leader in selling the female body.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) reiterated last week that decriminalizing the sex industry was the ministry’s long-term policy objective, following the release of a constitutional interpretation that said a clause in the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) that imposes penalties on sex workers, but not their clients, was unconstitutional.
The Council of Grand Justices explained that the clause was considered unconstitutional because it violates the spirit of equality as stated in the Constitution.
Although the women’s groups welcomed the interpretation itself, most of them disagreed with the ministry’s plan, saying it “overinterpreted the interpretation.”
“Chien thinks decriminalizing the sex industry is a [global] trend, but it still remains questionable whether such a measure would effectively manage the sex industry, make it a ‘clean’ industry and economically protect disadvantaged women in the industry,” Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation executive director Kang Shu-hua (康淑華) told a press conference at the legislature yesterday.
Kang said legalizing the sex industry wouldn’t resolve all the issues associated with it, such as human trafficking and organized crime.
She said these issues did not improve when the area around Huaxi Street (華西街) in Taipei was made a red light district in 1956. Rather, the red light district simply led to more illegal prostitutes — many human trafficking victims.
While people who support the legalization of the sex industry cite examples of other countries where prostitution is legal to support their case, International Campaign to End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism-Taiwan secretary-general Lee Li-fen (李麗芬) said some of those countries have realized a legal sex industry did not solve all of the issues and were considering doing a U-turn.
“Three years after Germany inaugurated the Act Regulating the Legal Situation of Prostitutes, it has been found to be ineffective and there has been little improvement of prostitutes’ working conditions because there was lack of social consensus on the law,” Lee said. “Sex workers are too afraid to expose their true identity and therefore only a handful of sex workers have signed employment contracts with brothels or become registered, self-employed prostitutes.”
Garden of Hope Foundation executive director Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容), on the other hand, said instead of legalizing the sex industry, the government should come up with a solution to resolve the social and economic problems that result in women working as prostitutes.
“Women in the sex industry are exploited — most of the money goes into the pockets of human traffickers, madams, pimps and brothel owners,” Chi said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS