The Executive Yuan on Thursday approved a Ministry of Justice proposal to change the word “whorehouse” to “locations for sexual services” in Article 9 of the Enforcement Act of the Criminal Code of the Republic of China (中華民國刑法施行法).
The ministry said it began a review of laws after Taiwan promulgated the Enforcement Act of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (消除對婦女一切形式歧視公約施行法) on Jan. 1, 2012.
It said the amendment was proposed to observe Article 5 of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which says: “States Parties shall take all appropriate measures: (a) To modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women.”
The wording of the enforcement act could be derogatory toward women, as it suggests that all those engaged in sexual services are women, which could lead to stereotyping, the ministry said.
The motion is to be forwarded to the Legislative Yuan for further review.
The proposed amendment assists in reducing discrimination against women and upholds the spirit of CEDAW, the Executive Yuan said.
The word “whorehouse” has mostly faded from legal documentation in Taiwan.
For example, Nantou County’s last legal location for sexual services received its permit to operate in March 1960. It received its permit to operate in March 1960, and closed in 2009, following the death of its owner, surnamed You (游).
The term “whorehouse” officially vanished from legal documentation in Nantou after the county government on Jan. 8, 2014, abolished the Nantou County Regulations on Prostitute Management and Autonomy (南投縣娼妓管理自治條例).
Liang Chih-chung (梁志忠), a history and culture enthusiast in the county’s Caotun Township (草屯), said that someone left the original plaque of the last sex-trade venue at his house.
The plaque witnessed an era when the sex trade was legal, and whoever delivered the plaque to him must have hoped to preserve an item that could stand testament to such a period, he said.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS