A group of 300 sex workers and their supporters took to the streets yesterday to call on the presidential candidates to make prostitution legal, prompting Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
The criminalization of prostitution violates the rights of sex workers to work in safe conditions, the protesters said, urging Hsieh and his rival, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential hopeful Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), to abolish Article 80 of the Social Order and Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which stipulates that selling sexual services is illegal, but that paying for such services is not.
In response, Hsieh signed an agreement to decriminalize prostitution within two years if elected. The group welcomed Hsieh's gesture and said it hoped it was not just an election ploy to garner votes.
PHOTO: PATRICK LIN, AFP
Ma's campaign team declined to make any commitments, saying only that Ma would take their plea into consideration.
Ma's camp said there was no public consensus on whether prostitution should be legal, adding that Ma would hold public hearings on the matter if elected.
The Collective of Sex Workers and Supporters (COSWAS), which organized the demonstration, said they were not completely satisfied with the responses of either camp, but added that time would tell if the winning candidate was sincere.
"It seems that Ma is shifting responsibility for solving this issue onto the public," COSWAS member Chung Chun-chu (
In September 1997, President Chen Shui-bian (
COSWAS said that decision has devastated the lives of many sex workers, who had no other way to make a living. Forced to continue working illegally, the workers also lost all legal options for recourse if they were hurt or cheated by customers, COSWAS said.
Before the clampdown, prostitutes could charge customers between NT$800 and NT$1,000 per 15 minutes and could demand their customers wear condoms or else refuse to have sex with them. Following the crackdown, working conditions have deteriorated drastically, COSWAS said, with most prostitution rings controlled by the mafia.
In 1999, when Ma became mayor of Taipei, he granted a two-year grace period for remaining brothels to close shop.
A tropical depression in waters east of the Philippines could develop into a tropical storm as soon as today and bring rainfall as it approaches, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, while issuing heat warnings for 14 cities and counties. Weather model simulations show that there are still considerable differences in the path that the tropical depression is projected to take. It might pass through the Bashi Channel to the South China Sea or turn northeast and move toward the sea south of Japan, CWA forecaster Yeh Chih-chun (葉致均) said, adding that the uncertainty of its movement is still high,
TAIWANESE INNOVATION: The ‘Seawool’ fabric generates about NT$200m a year, with the bulk of it sourced by clothing brands operating in Europe and the US Growing up on Taiwan’s west coast where mollusk farming is popular, Eddie Wang saw discarded oyster shells transformed from waste to function — a memory that inspired him to create a unique and environmentally friendly fabric called “Seawool.” Wang remembered that residents of his seaside hometown of Yunlin County used discarded oyster shells that littered the streets during the harvest as insulation for their homes. “They burned the shells and painted the residue on the walls. The houses then became warm in the winter and cool in the summer,” the 42-year-old said at his factory in Tainan. “So I was
THE TOUR: Pope Francis has gone on a 12-day visit to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. He was also invited to Taiwan The government yesterday welcomed Pope Francis to the Asia-Pacific region and said it would continue extending an invitation for him to visit Taiwan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the remarks as Pope Francis began a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific on Monday. He is to travel about 33,000km by air to visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, and would arrive back in Rome on Friday next week. It would be the longest and most challenging trip of Francis’ 11-year papacy. The 87-year-old has had health issues over the past few years and now uses a wheelchair. The ministry said
Discounted 72-hour Taipei Metro passes are to be offered to China Airlines passengers until Feb. 28 next year, the airline announced today. China Airlines passengers may present their boarding pass for a discount of up to 34 percent when buying a Taipei Metro 72-hour unlimited travel pass. The offer is available to international travelers on international flights bound for Taipei. Within seven days of arrival, travelers can present their boarding pass, passport and proof of flight payment at an EZfly counter in Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport or Taoyuan MRT Taipei Main Station to obtain the discounted passes, the airline said. One 72-hour pass
RSS