The Ministry of Interior yesterday tried to calm local sex workers after a newspaper reported the government plans to require them to obtain permission from their spouses before entering the trade to avoid committing adultery, which is a criminal offense.
Minister Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) told a press conference that no definitive plan has been set and the government was still gathering opinions from all sides. A decision is expected within six months, he said.
A report in the Chinese-language United Daily News said the ministry is ready to draft an act on sex trade management that would require all sex workers to obtain the consent of their spouse to enter the trade or face adultery charges if they are caught by the police.
“The Human Rights Protection Taskforce under the Executive Yuan met last week to discuss issues such as decriminalization of prostitution and the management of the sex trade, but no details were mentioned and we are still in the research phase,” the minister said.
He said a group of experts made the proposal on obtaining prior consent to the ministry last year. Other suggestions included setting up red light districts, holding a referendum at the local government level and allowing individual brothels to run as legitimate businesses.
While the law punishes sex workers, their clients face no punishment. There have also been cases where sex workers were indicted for adultery.
Last November, the Council of Grand Justices released a constitutional interpretation that stated the clause in the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) that imposes penalties on sex workers, but not their clients, was unconstitutional and should be abolished within two years because it violated the spirit of equality enshrined in the Constitution.
A sex worker under the alias “Miko” said it would be impossible for many of her peers to tell their husbands about their work.
“How can the government expect a woman to tell her husband that because he was unable to provide for the family she has to sell her body? Many of us cannot afford for our families to find out we are in this line of work,” she said.
Advocates also panned the proposal, saying such an act would further exploit women who are already struggling financially. Moreover, human trafficking rings would be encouraged to use fake marriages as an avenue to force more girls to walk the streets, Taiwan’s Women Link said.
What the government needs to do, said the Collective of Sex Workers and Supporters, is legalize prostitution and provide the workers with the necessary benefits and security, not impose more legal barriers.
When asked for her opinion about the proposal, a 26-year-old accountant, Chen Hui-ying (陳慧茵), said the government had no business telling a woman what to do with her body and the issue would be resolved if adultery was decriminalized.
A survey conducted and released by the ministry showed that 68.5 percent of respondents said the adult sex trade should be recognized as a legal business. However, the same poll also showed that 47.8 percent opposed decriminalizing prostitution.
Legislators also weighed in on the idea.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文), who previously proposed a bill decriminalizing prostitution, questioned whether the person who proposed asking for a spouse’s permission really understood the trade.
“Why do those in this business need to seek consent from their spouses if those in other industries are not required to do so?” Cheng said.
However, KMT Legislator Chi Kuo-tung (紀國棟) voiced support for the proposal, saying that sex workers should not get married if they were worried about the proposal.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday established a friendship group with their counterparts in Ukraine to promote parliamentary exchanges between the two countries. A ceremony in Taipei for the Taiwan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association, initiated by DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), was attended by lawmakers and officials, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Lutz Gullner. The increasingly dire situation in Ukraine is a global concern, and Taiwan cannot turn its back when the latter is in need of help, as the two countries share many common values and interests,
RSS