Women’s and LGBT rights groups yesterday rallied in Taipei to urge the Judicial Yuan to decriminalize adultery.
“Adultery is still a crime under Taiwanese law that does not guarantee a happy marriage nor does it stop extramarital affairs,” Awakening Foundation chairwoman Chuang Chiao-ju (莊喬汝) said.
“In prosecuting adultery cases, women have been treated unfairly by the courts, and have received disproportionate punishment,” she said, referring to Article 239 of the Criminal Code on offenses against marriage and family, which allows for up to one year imprisonment for adultery.
Photo: CNA
“Taiwan should follow Japan and South Korea, as they have decriminalized adultery. It is still a crime in the world’s few very conservative nations, and Taiwan, unfortunately, is among them,” she added.
Protesters held a banner that read: “No prosecution for adultery, family happiness cannot depend on catching the adulterer in the act,” and gave a list of recommendations, including annulling Article 239, to Judicial Yuan officials.
On Tuesday next week, the Council of Grand Justices is to start hearing arguments on the question of decriminalizing adultery.
“Modern marriage should not be about possession, but must be based on the free will of two people to enter into wedlock. If their relationship ends, it is not the place of the state to intervene,” Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights, which promotes LGBTQ community and same-sex marriage issues, said in a statement.
The Awakening Foundation began pushing to decriminalize adultery 26 years ago, Chuang said.
“Through these long years, Taiwanese society and people’s attitudes have undergone great changes and made significant progress, but Article 239 has remained without any change since 1930,” she said.
As the courts favor a concept of “family harmony,” adultery cases can lead to charges against spouses and people outside the marriage, the foundation said, adding that a higher proportion of charges were filed against men, but more women have received guilty verdicts.
“For every 100 women found guilty and sentenced in adultery cases, only 81 men were. This shows that the law is very unfair against women,” Chuang said.
Members of the Taiwan Gender Equity Education Association, Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association and Humanistic Education Foundation also participated in the event.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
The Grand Hotel Taipei has rejected media reports claiming that the hotel had prevented CBS from broadcasting coverage of the Beijing summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on its premises. Media reports alleging that the hotel owner, dissatisfied with CBS’s coverage, prohibited the network from broadcasting political content on the hotel premises, are not true, the hotel said in a statement issued last night. The reports were “inconsistent with how the hotel actually handled the matter,” it said. The hotel said it received a refund request from a
RSS