An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese are opposed to decriminalizing adultery, the Ministry of Justice said on Thursday.
The finding is the result of two opinion polls conducted earlier this year, the ministry said.
In a survey conducted in April, 82.2 percent of respondents gave the thumbs-down to decriminalization and only 16.8 percent supported it, the ministry said.
However, after the results of the poll were published by the news media, some academics and advocacy groups questioned the credibility of the findings, accusing the ministry of failing to offer sufficient information to help respondents better understand the general world trend in legislation regarding adultery.
The ministry should have briefed the respondents on current criminal regulations governing adultery, as some respondents might have thought that prosecution of adulterers is the only way to maintain the existing family system, they said.
The ministry should have also proposed supplementary measures that could have made decriminalizing adultery more acceptable, they said.
To address these concerns, the ministry conducted a second survey last month, but this time, the respondents were briefed on regulations governing adultery in the Civil Code and the Criminal Code.
The poll included questions about international trends on promoting gender equality and revising existing laws to meet such standards.
However, the latest survey still found that 77.3 percent of respondents were opposed to decriminalizing adultery.
Those who opposed decriminalization also reached nearly 70 percent even if they were told that the Civil Code would be revised to minimize any possible negative impact of the decriminalization of adultery, the ministry said.
Each of the surveys collected more than 1,700 valid samples, with margins of error of less than 3 percent, it added.
SAFETY IN REGULATION: The proposal states that Chiayi should assess whether it is viable to establish such a district and draft rules to protect clients and sex workers The Chiayi City Council passed a motion yesterday to assess the viability of establishing a regulated red-light district. The council yesterday held its last session of the year, at which its fiscal 2024 budget was approved, along with 61 other proposals. The proposal to assess the viability of establishing a red-light district was put forward by independent Chiayi City Councilor Molly Yen (顏色不分藍綠支持性專區顏色田慎節). The proposal cited 2011 amendments to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which stipulate that city and county governments can pass autonomous regulations on the sex trade to manage the industry and guarantee industry workers’ rights. A ban on the
STABILITY AND CHANGE: Flagging in recent polls, Ko this week pledged to maintain President Tsai’s foreign policy, with an emphasis on improving China relations Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday reiterated that he is “deep-green at heart” in response to accusations that he is pivoting his campaign to align closer with the ideology of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the face of flagging polls. Ko made the remark at an agricultural policy conference in Taipei, repeating his comments from an interview with CTS News a day earlier. Ko told the CTS host that he would continue to pursue President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) national defense and foreign policy in general, but with an emphasis on establishing a rapport with
CHINA illness surge: Of 88 travelers from China, Hong Kong and Macau with respiratory symptoms who were encouraged to get tested upon arrival, 70.6% had the flu Two hundred and sixty people with COVID-19 were hospitalized and 31 deaths related to the virus were reported last week — the highest numbers in four weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that cases are expected to peak next month. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said that of the 260 people hospitalized last week with moderate to severe COVID-19, 98 percent had not received the Omicron XBB.1.5-adapted COVID-19 vaccine. Among the people hospitalized this year, 78 percent were aged 65 or older, while most of the those who were hospitalized or died have or had
Taiwanese who have recently traveled to China for tourism, to visit friends or relatives or for business reasons have been interrogated, detained and faced other forms of unreasonable treatment from Chinese officials, a source said on Sunday. Among them was a Taiwanese who was detained for eight hours at an airport in China due to their research, which is related to religion, while others have had their travel documents for China canceled for a number of reasons, the source said. In July, China expanded the scope of its counterespionage law, and recently announced a draft amendment to the law on the protection
RSS