Mon, Mar 26, 2001 page2

• Taipei's red lights burning out

  On Wednesday, licensed prostitution in Taipei will end. But activists and women's groups say the ban will hardly mean an end to the sex industry, and measures should be taken to ensure that prostitutes can continue to work

  • By Ko Shu-ling / STAFF REPORTER
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  Yi Mei (怡梅) wants nothing more but to save enough money to change her career, which she has worked in for more than 30 years.

  But it's not easy for a legal prostitute such as her to change jobs, given Yi's age and limited education.

  

  This scantily clad lady is not dressed to sell betel nuts. Pai-lan is a licensed prostitute who works on Kuisui street. But the red lights of the dim alleys are about to go out, taking with them the sight of women luring clients.

  PHOTO: LIAO RAY-HSANG, TAIPEI TIMES

  "It has been my ultimate goal to change jobs since the first day I got in [the profession]," Yi said, adding that she would like to open a shop of her own.

  

  Public Television Service held a conference on prostitution in Taipei yesterday attended by long time campaigner and prostitute Li-chun, right.

  PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

  Yi Mei is one of 57 women participating in the city government's two-year job training program for legal prostitutes.

  As the city is set to turn out the red lights on Wednesday when legalized prostitution comes to an end, feminists and women's groups continue to debate the pros and cons of Taiwan's sex trade -- which operates out of massage parlors, tea houses and barber shops.

  While some workers have asked the city to set up a special zone where they can continue to work, the city has not yet decided its future policy on prostitution, though it has set up a task force to conduct a study on the sex industry.

  Sister Kuan (官姐), 50, an outspoken legal sex worker, said that the city's ban on legalized prostitution will do little to rid Taipei of its sex industry.

  "It will definitely force legal prostitutes underground," said Kuan, who has been lobbying on the behalf of sex workers since former Taipei mayor Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) proposed ending licensed prostitution in August 1997. "I know a few who take the money from the city government but continue their job at the same time."

  The city has offered financial incentives to encourage licensed prostitutes to change jobs.

  But Kuan said that about one third of the current 45 legal prostitutes, who work in the city's two public brothel zones in the Wanhua and Tatung districts, might end up joining the ranks of an estimated 100,000 illegal prostitutes in Taiwan.

  Oldest profession

  Legal prostitution in post-colonial Taiwan in part dates to 1949, when KMT forces fled China to Taiwan.

  To take care of the sexual needs of soldiers who were either young and single or married and away from home, the central government in 1959 proposed the "Taiwan Provincial Prostitution Management Measures" (台灣省娼妓管理辦法) to "ensure social order."

  The measures -- which were later revised in 1973 and 1994 -- stipulated that 70 percent of a customer's fee should go to the sex worker, with the remaining 30 percent going to an establishment's proprietor. The measures also required that sex workers undergo a physical check-up every two weeks.

  In 1995, then-Taipei mayor Chen Shui-bian staged a successful "anti-obscenity" campaign in an attempt to "clean up" the city's streets.

  On Sept. 4, 1997, the city announced a ban on legal prostitution. Two days later, the ban was officially carried out, prompting 128 legal sex workers to take to the streets to stage what ended up being a 17-month battle over the issue.

  Finally, on Jan. 26, 1999, the new city government under Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) caved in to pressure and granted a two-year grace period that allowed sex workers time to find alternative employment.

  In March that same year, the city launched a two-year "Rainbow Program" (虹彩專案), in which legal sex workers were entitled to no-interest loans to either start up a new business or monthly subsidies to transfer to a new job.

  Those interested in opening a business of their own were entitled to loans of NT$600,000 interest-free, and those who wanted to pursue a new job were eligible for NT$10,000 in monthly subsidies.

  According to Yu Shu-chen (游淑真), section chief at the city's Bureau of Labor Affairs (勞工局), so far 57 licensed prostitutes have participated in the program.

  These women have opened businesses such as beauty parlors, restaurants or auto body shops, or have taken new jobs as babysitters or housekeepers.

  Financial support, however, hasn't guaranteed success. Just half of the 57 women participating in the program have successfully started or transferred to new jobs.

  "They have a hard time finding a new job or establishing a business of their own because they're either old, poorly educated, have long ago lost contact with society or lack professional skills," Yu said.

  Studies show that the ages of legal prostitutes working in the Wanhua District range between 25 and 40, while those in Tatung District range between 40 and 60.

  In addition to the "Rainbow Program," the city also offered until the end of this month monthly allowances of NT$7,750 to licensed prostitutes trying to change careers.

  Chang Mei-mei (張美美), director of the social work division under the city's Bureau of Social Affairs (社會局), said that one of the problems social workers encounter is that licensed prostitutes are sometimes reluctant to talk about their lives.

  "Each [legal worker] comes from a very different family and has a unique personality, and you simply cannot force them to come to you and ask for help," Chang said.

  Chang said the division has handled 56 cases over the past two years.

  Playing by the rules

  Although the city has not yet mapped out its future prostitution policy, Jeng Tsuen-chyi (鄭村棋), director of city's Bureau of Labor Affairs (勞工局), said that he personally does not approve of the idea of forcing prostitutes into changing jobs.

  "They're entitled to do any job of their choice just like you and I," Jeng said. "The city shouldn't have assumed the responsibility of helping them change jobs, but instead it should step in to help whenever they need it."

  But Jeng also said he wouldn't support any further attempts to regulate the sex industry.

  "Only through the end of legal prostitution can the public start to face the problem of prostitution as a whole, and further discuss the issue and come up with possible solutions," Jeng said.

  When asked whether he approves of prostitution, Jeng said that he can accept prostitution on the condition that sex workers are not forced into the business or exploited by pimps or agents.

  "I don't think the city has any right to force sex workers out of the game when they're willing to play by the rules and when there are reasonable and acceptable rules to follow," he said. "The city government should stop acting like a hypocrite and start facing the problem head on."

  Commenting on the city's proposal to make the two red light districts into special zones encompassing sex museums staffed with former sex workers as curators or tour guides, Jeng said that it sounded like a "creative idea."

  "Sex education is an important subject which has long been ignored and desperately needs attention. Sex workers might be good candidates to offer some unique and useful insight into the controversial issue," he said.

  Pros and cons

  Despite the city's uncertain prostitution policy, feminists and women's groups have been vigorously debating the pros and cons of the sex trade.

  Kuan said that a good way to tackle the problem is to set up a special zone where prostitutes can continue to work.

  "Prostitution helps keep crime rates down. Crackdowns and prohibition simply don't work," she said. "The Kuantu prairie may be a good choice for the special zone because not many people live there. Paotou Borough may not be a bad choice either, but I'm afraid that government officials who own land there may not like the idea."

  Paotou Borough in the Wanhua District was the city's first legal brothel area. During its peak, there were 60 public brothels located there.

  But Huang Shu-ling (黃淑玲), research fellow at Academia Sinica and chairwoman of the Women's Rescue Foundation (婦女救援基金會), dismisses the argument that prostitution helps keep crime rates low, especially rape.

  "Studies have shown that most rapists have a long history of patronizing prostitutes. In other words, prostitution doesn't help decrease rape crimes," she said.

  To tackle the problem, Huang said, the central government should amend the Social Order Maintenance Law (社會秩序維護法).

  "The law just doesn't make any sense at all because it punishes the prostitutes instead of the brothel patrons when busts are made," Huang said.

  Wang Ping (王蘋), secretary general of the Gender/Sexuality Rights Association Taiwan (台灣性別人權協會), said that the city should consider making "decriminalization" its priority in tackling the prostitution problem.

  "Only when the industry is decriminalized is it possible to talk about something else," she said.

  Josephine Ho (何春蕤), coordinator of the Center for the Study of Sexuality at National Central University (中央大學), said that she is against any measure that deprives women of their right to work.

  "Prostitution actually is a good job in terms of pay and working conditions," she said. "It's not fair to say that all sex work is desperate and painful."

  Activist Chou Chun-chu (周君竺), secretary to the Tatung District Public Brothel Organization (大同區公娼自治會), said that legal prostitutes have seen their business dwindle in recent years due to a slowing economy and the ban on legal prostitution.

  "Some don't even have a single customer in 12 hours, while in the 1960s, a popular prostitute could have as many as 20 customers a day," Chou said. "Our own study indicates that about half of the legal prostitutes in the Tatung District have declared retirement, while the other half are in the process of changing their jobs."
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