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Taiwan’s women split over prostitution issue

Sex workers in Taiwan have cautiously welcomed a government plan to legalise prostitution, but the scheme is being opposed by an alliance of women’s groups who fear it will breed crime and violence.

A red-light area similar to Amsterdam’s famed canalside sex-for-sale district has been proposed for the capital Taipei, with legal and zoning measures due in place within six months.

Prostitutes and their supporters say they see a ray of hope after many years of campaigning for legalisation to protect them from both customers and police, but some are concerned about being moved into special zones.

“I hope the government will allow us to stay where we are and give us legal protection,” said one prostitute who wanted to be identified as Hsiao-feng. “I don’t want to move to a new place to start again.”

Hsiao-feng earns a living in Taipei’s Wanhua district, which is believed to be home to thousands of sex workers plying their trade illegally even though prostitution was outlawed in the city in 1997.

“Who wants to have red-light districts near homes?” she asks. “The government would have to put us in the mountains but then we can’t make a living because nobody wants to travel that far.”

Observers say paid-for sex remains big business and the ban has driven it underground, where brothels operate under euphemistic names such as tea houses, massage parlours, clubs and even skin-care salons.

There are also women known as “liu ying” or “floating orioles” — a metaphor for flirtatious and seductive women — who find patrons on the streets.

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Taipei gives greenlight to redlight workers

Taiwan began a process of legalising prostitution today making the island the latest place in the world to decriminalise the world’s oldest profession.

In six months, authorities will stop punishing Taiwan sex workers after prostitutes successfully campaigned to be given the same protection as their clients, a government spokesman said.

“Now the client gets off free, but the prostitute gets punished, and that’s not fair,” spokesman Su Jun-pin said.

Taiwan’s cabinet will issue regulations within six months, when new regulations take effect, covering locations in Taiwan approved for prostitution.

“It’s like fishing,” Su said. “The activity may be legal, but in some places you can’t do it.”

Taiwan outlawed prostitution 11 years ago, but older sections of the capital Taipei still teem with underground sex workers in bars and night clubs on the upper floors of high-rise buildings.

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Taiwan floats plan for legalized prostitution zone

Taiwan’s interior ministry has proposed setting up a legal prostitution zone allowing the island’s already huge underground trade to flourish, in response to popular demand from sex workers, officials said on Friday. Skip related content

Pimps, prostitutes and their clients who do business in the zone will not face any punishment, said ministry department head Huang Bi-hsia.

“Prostitution remains a common phenomenon around the world, and there’s no way to stamp it out,” a ministry research report says. “Handling the question of adult sex in the future can shift toward a special zone plan.”

Taiwan outlawed prostitution 11 years ago, but older sections of the capital Taipei still teem with underground sex workers in tiny bars and night clubs on the upper floors of high-rise buildings.

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Taiwan lawmakers bid to decriminalise prostitution

Ruling party lawmakers in Taiwan vowed to press ahead with attempts to decriminalise prostitution after winning enough backing Sunday to introduce a bill to parliament.

Their proposal aims to amend the existing law under which prostitutes are punished but their clients are not.

Prostitutes face detention of three days or a fine of up to 30,000 Taiwan dollars (888 US) if they are caught providing sex services.

“Since prostitution is illegal, sex workers were often abused, and what’s more, when this happened, they dared not turn to police for help,” said Cheng Li-wen, the legislator behind the proposal.

The proposal has been endorsed by more than 10 legislators from the ruling party, meaning it has passed the threshold for becoming a bill and would be discussed on the parliamentary floor, the United Daily News said.

Opponents claimed that legalising the domestic sex industry would result in increased sex abuse in the country.

However, Wang Fang-ping, a leading advocate for the rights of sex workers, hailed what she called “a small step forward” in decriminalising prostitution.

While there is no official estimate of the scale of Taiwan’s sex industry, Wang said up to 800,000 people may be involved, with estimated annual revenue of at least 60 billion Taiwan dollars.

There are about 30 prostitutes licensed by the government nationwide under laws enacted in 1957. Governments have stopped issuing new licences, allowing existing permits to be phased out.

But Wang said phasing out licences had forced prostitutes underground. “In many cases, we could see that police and corrupt officials used the loopholes to take hefty bribes from the huge underground business,” she said.