The red lights of Taipei's Snake Alley have been extinguished, and Taipei's 100-year history of licensed prostitution has come to an end.
Although the drive to revoke prostitutes' licenses began with KMT city councilors in 1987, it was actually former Taipei mayor Chen Shui-bian (
Chen also said that prostitution must be strictly prohibited if Taipei was to become a progressive city. "We mustn't ignore more than a hundred advanced countries just to follow a minority of twenty or so countries," he said.
This was perhaps a misconception. The so-called advanced countries that ban prostitution are actually in the minority and they include Afghanistan and other Muslim countries. But if one looks at Europe, "uncivilized countries" are everywhere -- including Germany and the Netherlands.
Many who have been to Hamburg will leave with a strong impression of the St. Pauli district. An important city, both economically and culturally, Hamburg is one of the richest municipalities in all of Europe.
Beautiful and bustling by day, the night life of Reeperbahn offers a window on the port city's underground culture. Here, the ubiquitous sex shops and women lining the streets constitute a wonderful spectacle for male visitors, who clamor for a closer look.
The fact that 1.5 million tourists flock to the district annually is proof of the adage, "You haven't been to Hamburg until you've visited Reeperbahn." Admittedly, this is no heaven on earth -- the mafia has ties to the industry and there is a growing drug problem among prostitutes -- but the city government has never tried to terminate its two hundred years of red-light history.
Amsterdam's sex industry is even more developed. In the streets of De Walletjes -- a red-light district that dates back to the Middle Ages -- scantily-clad "shop-window girls" of every shape and size advertise their charms while prospective customers rub shoulders outside.
Elsewhere, advertisements for escorts openly appear in front of five-star hotels. In a city with a population of only 700,000, Amsterdam's sex workers may number as many as 40,000. Add to that the thousands of sex clubs scattered throughout the country, and the number of sex workers becomes too numerous to count. And in response to all of this, apart from prohibiting exploitation from middlemen and child prostitution, the government has adopted a laissez-faire policy.
Neither of these two cities is a den of iniquity. The reason why prostitutes can operate openly is due completely to the pragmatic, tolerant attitude of the government and people.
In the past -- including the Nazi and communist eras -- Europeans strictly forbade prostitution. Now, more and more Europeans accept the notion that the sex trade is a private matter between adults. As long as both parties consent, the state should not interfere.
Prostitution is, after all, the oldest profession. In the people's view, the existence of prostitution has no relation to morality, and thus should not be a source of shame for society.
Using this kind of thinking, Britain's The Economist magazine three years ago made an appeal for the complete legalization of prostitution.
Beginning two years ago, Germany's Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth proposed legislation to raise the legal status of prostitutes. Although prostitution in Germany has already been legalized, it is still considered to be a profession that violates "public order and good customs."Prostitutes are required to pay taxes but have effectively been excluded from the social welfare system.
Along with the passage of time and changing values, however, support for the large-scale liberalization of prostitution has gradually increased. One survey revealed that 7 in 10 Germans supported the reform measures proposed by the ministry. In fact, according to official statistics, one in four German men has visited a brothel. Last year Berlin's courts made the landmark ruling that prostitution did not violate "public order and good customs." In the words of the chief justice, "Prostitution has already become part of the collective lifestyle of German society."
We don't necessarily have to follow suit with a large-scale liberalization of prostitution. Still, politicians who regard prostitution as the "scourge of the nation" should consider this: does Taiwan possess the kind of "public order and good customs" that surpasses that of the Europeans?
If not, then what significance is there in revoking the status of licensed prostitutes who have been legal for such a long time? The two-year grace period has already expired, putting 45 licensed prostitutes out of business. Legally the issue appears to be cut-and-dry, but unfortunately no one believes that the burgeoning sex trade and "assisted relationships"
Huang Jui-ming is an assistant professor at the Institute of Labor Studies, National Chung Cheng University.
Translated by Scudder Smith
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