Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Meanwhile, workers in the sex industry have asked officials to investigate the possibility of setting up a special zone that would allow them to continue their business.
Visiting one of the city's two legal public brothel zones in Taipei's Wanhua district yesterday, Ma told reporters and district police officers that the city's legal sex industry would end on Jan. 26 next year, a decision previously made by the city council.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
He added that concerned authorities should draw up comprehensive plans to take care of sex workers who would be put out of work as a result of the action.
"It's definite that the city will ban prostitution, but we'll invite scholars and experts to conduct a comprehensive study on related issues to extend all possible assistance [to displaced sex industry workers]," he said.
Sex industry workers appeared enthusiastic about setting up a special zone for prostitution.
"It's a good idea because then we won't have to worry about the police. I cannot afford to lose my job and would never be able to find employment that pays so handsomely with my background," said one sex worker, who refused to reveal her identity.
There are a total of 62 legal prostitutes in Wanhua and Tatung districts. Wanhua district alone has 36 in its eight legal brothels.
Former Taipei Mayor Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) banned licensed prostitutes from working in the city in August 1997, but the action soon backfired after sex workers staged large-scale protests demanding a two-year grace period.
The war of resistance finally came to an end on Jan. 26, 1999, when the city council bowed to pressure and granted the two-year grace period.
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