The Collective of Sex Workers and Supporters (COSWAS) yesterday rallied outside the Legislative Yuan, calling for the complete decriminalization of the sex industry, before meeting lawmakers from the two main political parties.
The rally comes just a month before a clause in the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) that penalizes sex workers expires.
Article 80 of the Social Order Maintenance Act, which penalizes sex workers, but not their clients, was declared “unconstitutional” by the Council of Grand Justices on Nov. 6, 2009, and it gave the government and the legislature a two-year period to amend the law.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
According to the interpretation, the council declared the clause unconstitutional because it believed that penalizing only sex workers violates of the spirit of equality embodied in the Constitution.
However, while the specific clause expires on Nov. 6, a revised law has yet to pass a legislative review.
Currently, there are three proposed amendments.
One proposed by the Executive Yuan would authorize local governments to create red light districts where prostitution is legal, but it would remain illegal outside such districts.
Another proposed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) seeks to penalize the client, but not the sex worker, while a third version proposed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) would decriminalize the sex trade for both the worker and the client if passed.
“The Executive Yuan’s version of the amendment only makes the situation worse because it would penalize both the sex worker and the client outside of a designated area, which is to be decided by the local government,” COSWAS executive director Chung Chun-chu (鍾君竺) said at the rally. “So when local governments refuse to create red light districts — which seems to be what would happen — it would be a de facto ban on prostitution.”
After a rally outside the Executive Yuan, COSWAS representatives petitioned lawmakers from both the DPP and the KMT.
“Right now, we don’t consider the Cabinet-proposed draft amendment our only option. We would first have to decide whether sex workers and clients should both be penalized, or if both should be exempt, before deciding whether to create red light districts,” KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛) said after the meeting.
On the other hand, DPP caucus whip Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) panned the Executive Yuan’s proposal to create red light districts as “irresponsible,” adding that the DPP caucus believed that sex workers should be protected.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS