Civic groups supporting the decriminalization of prostitution yesterday expressed concern at a public hearing that the government only planned to legalize the sex trade within special zones and planned to introduce more punishments for sex workers caught working outside them.
Advocacy group Collective of Sex Workers and Supporters (COSWAS) chief Chung Chun-chu (鍾君竺) said the Ministry of the Interior proposed during a meeting convened by the Executive Yuan’s Human Rights Protection and Promotion Committee in June not to punish prostitution within red light zones, but to maintain punishments for prostitution taking place elsewhere.
Chung said such a proposal contradicted a previous announcement by Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) that prostitution should be decriminalized.
The Executive Yuan said in June it would decriminalize prostitution, but left the decision to set up red light districts to local governments.
The sex trade is considered illegal in Taiwan under Article 80 of the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), the regulation governing sexual transactions that stipulates detention or the fining of sex workers, rather than their clients.
Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺), minister of the Research, Development and Evaluation (RDEC) Commission, who attended the hearing, confirmed the existence of the proposal.
Jiang, however, said the premier favored legalizing prostitution and imposing certain rules on the industry, even if the public remained divided on the matter.
The premier also mentioned that the establishment of red light districts should not be decided via referendums, Jiang said.
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