An association representing sex workers questioned the Ministry of the Interior’s sincerity about holding a public hearing on whether to legalize the sex industry, saying that there were too many matters to be talked about and not enough time to produce anything worthwhile.
“Almost all the issues concerning the sex industry will be discussed in the public hearing and each speaker only gets three minutes,” Collective of Sex Workers and Supporters executive director Chung Chun-chu (鍾君竺) said.
“This kind of discussion is too superficial, it’s only for showand cannot get to the core of the issue,” Chung said.
The ministry will be holding two public hearings, tomorrow and on Aug. 31, after a constitutional interpretation by the Council of Grand Justices declared a clause in the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) that penalizes prostitutes, but not their clients, unconstitutional.
The clause will be automatically nullified next year.
In a press release, the ministry said topics to be discussed at the public hearings include whether to legalize the sex trade between consenting adults, whether to stipulate the location where prostitution could take place, how to deal with the adultery clause in the Criminal Code when a married person is involved paying for sex and how to avoid sexual exploitation if the sex industry were decriminalized.
“We’ve checked with the ministry and they are unable to provide any specific information about the current status of the sex industry in Taiwan,” Chung said. “How are they able to come up with realistic solutions?”
The Taichung City Government once proposed that a red light district must be at least 50m away from commercial and residential areas.
“Well, when you look at Taichung’s map, you can see commercial zones right on both sides of main roads and residential areas are behind commercial zones. Where could a red light district be created?” she asked.
Chung said given that many small towns and villages only have one main road, “should red light districts be located in the middle of nowhere?”
The ministry said it appreciated the comments, adding that the criticisms could be raised during discussions at the public hearings.
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