A series of public hearings and seminars will be held this month by the Ministry of the Interior on decriminalizing prostitution between consenting adults.
One of the hearings will be held in Taipei today, with another in Kaohsiung on Aug. 31, while the schedules for the two seminars are yet to be decided, according to the the ministry.
UNCONSTITUTIONAL
The public hearings and seminars are being organized after justices of the Constitutional Court ruled last November that a provision in the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) allowing punishment for prostitutes, but not their patrons, is unconstitutional and must be invalidated within two years.
The ruling has forced the Executive Yuan to address the issue, as it must come up with measures within two years to not only revise the law, but also to establish a set of rules governing adult sex transactions.
UP FOR DEBATE
Areas likely to be tackled during the first public hearing will include whether sex transactions with the consent of both parties should be banned or punished, and whether places where adult sex transactions are conducted should be regulated after prostitution is decriminalized or legalized.
Topics such as whether prostitutes and sex trade businesses should be required to register and apply for official approval before launching their businesses, and whether married adults who use prostitutes face should criminal proceedings on adultery charges, are also expected to be discussed during the first hearing, ministry officials said.
The ministry has consulted academics and other experts on decriminalization, but so far no consensus has been reached on any area, including whether red-light zones like the ones in Amsterdam and Hamburg would be established in Taiwan.
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