TAIWAN PLANNING ON LEGAL PROSTITUTION ZONES

綜合報導  / 台北市

To amend the Social Order Maintenance Act, which punishes the prostitutes and not the clients, the Ministry of Interior has been collecting public opinion in order to make proper changes.

On Wednesday, The government has announced its position on legal prostitution, saying that in the future, sex workers can only work in designated zones with permits, while the local government has the right to decide the areas or brothels. Those who conduct commercial sex outside the authorized locations will be penalized.

The long disputed move to abolish the penalties for prostitution has been confirmed and finalized. The Executive Yuan has announced a set of management principle.

The goals are to moderately ease the control, effectively manage sex workers, protect human rights and crack down on crimes, with measures such as that sex workers need to register their names in the system, apply for a license, receive regular health check up and examination on their labor rights.

To respect local autonomy, the local government will be responsible in choosing a designated area for paying-for-sex transaction transactions.

Ministry of the Interior stresses that such transactions within the zone would be considered legal and the practice outside the zone is subject to penalty.

The area has to be located some distance from cultural, educational and religious institutions.

But the Garden of Hope Foundation criticizes that the central government tosses the responsibilities to the local governments.

According to CEO of the foundation Chi Hui-ron, the anti-sex exploitation alliance believes that countries should enhance efforts to minimize sex industry through penalizing clients and this 'third party', which profits from the transaction between prostitute and client.

In Constitutional Interpretation the Council of Grand Justices found penalizing prostitutes but not their clients to be unconstitutional.

As a result, the related article in the Social Order Maintenance Act will cease to be effective in this November.

The Ministry of the Interior plans to submit a revised version of the Act to the Executive Yuan for review by the end of May while the anti-sex exploitation alliance stresses that it would also propose their version when the legislature reviews the government's proposal.

新聞來源：華視新聞