Taiwan Loosens Laws on Brothels
A new change in the law in Taiwan will allow sex workers to set up “small businesses.” At one time, the laws were so strict that the huge industry was forced underground.
In an obnoxious but familiar double standard, prostitution was legal only in Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, until 1997, when the city authorities made it a criminal offense to be a prostitute but not to patronize one.
The ministry of the Interior publicly stated on its website that it would consider legalizing brothels with a staff of three to five persons as long as they are nowhere near any areas frequented by children.
Plans to enact this legislation will be presented to a cabinet committee by the end of the year.
The ministry would not consider red–light districts or permit businesses with larger staff due to concerns that such measures would turn the sex trade into a regular industry. (One can only wonder: isn’t it already?)
It must be said in favor of the government that it has responded to pressure from prostitute groups over the unfairness of the law. The debate to change the current legal standard began two years ago, and in 2009, the first step came when the government stopped punishing sex workers.
It seems naïve to think that that the sex trade anywhere is not a viable and lucrative industry, no matter how it operates and mo matter at whose expense. In older sections of Taipei, sex workers still swarm bars and nightclubs and it is estimated that the number of people involved in the Taiwanese sex trade number about 600,000.
That’s quite a large number for a small business, no?
(Link)
By MDeeDubroff on 24-10-2010
