Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T19:29:40.189Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Policing and Regulating Commercial Sex in Taiwan: A Review from Gender, Culture and Legal Perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 August 2020

Chih-Chieh (Carol) LIN ,
Fang-Yi SU  and
Ping-Hsuan CHUNG
Chih-Chieh (Carol) LIN
Affiliation:
National Chiao Tung University
Fang-Yi SU
Affiliation:
Lin & Partner
Ping-Hsuan CHUNG
Affiliation:
National Chiao Tung University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Commercial sex has been a complex and controversial issue in Taiwan. It was banned several times and finally partially legalized in law when the Congress finally amended Article 80 of the Social Order Maintenance Law and authorized local governments to establish red-light districts. Unfortunately, in reality, until now, no local government has established a red-light district. Therefore, all commercial sex is still illegal in Taiwan. By reviewing this issue from gender, culture, and legal perspectives, this paper discusses the regulation of commercial sex in Taiwan in three parts. In the first part, this paper provides a historical view of the development of commercial sex and how the government regulated it in different periods. In the second part, this paper introduces the debate and various perspectives of feminist legal theories on this issue. Finally, compared with the regulation models of Japan and Singapore, this paper proposes an empowerment approach in response to the current Social Order Maintenance Law. Focusing on sex workers’ autonomy and subjectivity, the new approach hopes to balance the interests between the rights of sex workers and the needs of social order and public health.

Keywords

sex workerprostitutecommercial sexregulationdiscriminationfeminist legal theory
Type
Sex Work in Asia
Information
Asian Journal of Law and Society , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , June 2020 , pp. 231 - 263
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and KoGuan Law School, Shanghai Jiao Tong University 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

•

First, I want to thank my co-authors who did this controversial and complicated research together with me. Second, I would like to express my very great appreciation to Professor Hiroshi Fukurai for his encouragement and advice to me. I also want to thank the Asian Journal of Law and Society and Dr Vanhullebusch’s assistance in publishing this paper. Thank you to all my research assistants, especially Yi-Ting Yang at NCTU School of Law, for your contribution to the research and editing this paper. My grateful thanks are also extended to Professor Shang-Jyh Liu, who has highly supported law and society studies and hosted the 2017 Asian Law and Society Conference in Taiwan. Special thanks should be given to my family members: my parents, my sister, my son George, and my husband Professor Chih-Hsiung Thomas Chen, an outstanding scholar in medical law and legal education. I would not accomplish my goal of legal reform without their support. Finally, I want to thank all people who stand out and fight for social minority groups. As I always believed: courage and action speak louder than words.

*

Distinguished Professor, School of Law, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan; SJD, School of Law, Duke University, USA. Correspondence to Dr Chih-Chieh (Carol) Lin, No. 1001, Daxue Rd., East Dist., Hsinchu City 300093, Taiwan (R.O.C.). E-mail address: [email protected].

**

Attorney of Law, Lin & Partner; LL.M. Candidate, School of Law, Stanford University.

***

LL.M. Candidate, School of Law, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan.

References

REFERENCES

Aronson, Gregg (2006) “Seeking a Consolidated Feminist Voice for Prostitution in the US.” 3 Rutgers Journal of Law & Public Policy 357–88.Google Scholar
Chen, Hui-Chuan, & Guo, Ding-Ying (1998) “Discussion on the Connotation of Motherhood Concept: Perspectives of Feminist.” 41 Bulletin of Educational Research 80.Google Scholar
Chen, Yao-Min (2001) Sex Work and World Prostitutes’ Rights Movement, Taiwan: Chuliu Publisher.Google Scholar
Chen, Yi-Ting (2016) “The Dilemma of Punishing both Prostitutes and Clients,” https://www.coolloud.org.tw/node/85054 (accessed 25 January 2020).Google Scholar
Chen, Yu (2018) “Ministry of the Interior: Red Light District Is a Failed Amendment,” Liberty Times Net, 20 March, http://news.ltn.com.tw/news/society/paper/1185358 (accessed 15 September 2018).Google Scholar
Cheng, Chun-Pin (2009) “The Interaction between Worker of the Sex Industry and Keelung Society (around the Termination of the Second World War)” Presented at the 2009 Seminar on Gender Culture and General Education, Ching Kuo Institute of Management and Health, 4 June 2009.Google Scholar
Chin, Meng-Hua (2010) “A Legal Feminist’s Perspective on Rape Law Reforms.” Master’s thesis, Institute of Technology Law, National Chiao Tung University.Google Scholar
Chin, Yi-Chen (2001) Sex Work and World Prostitutes’ Rights Movement, Taiwan: Chuliu Publisher.Google Scholar
Court, Constitutional, Yuan, Judicial (2009a) “Justice Hsin-Min, Chen’ Concurring Opinion on the J.Y. Interpretation No. 666,” 協同意見書陳大法官新民https://www2.judicial.gov.tw/FYDownload/uploadfile/C100/666協同意見書陳大法官新民.pdf (accessed 5 January 2020).Google Scholar
Constitutional Court, Judicial Yuan (2009b) “Justice Ye Pai-Hsiu’s Concurring Opinion on the J.Y. Interpretation No. 666,” 協同意見書葉百修https://www.judicial.gov.tw/FYDownload/uploadfile/C100/666協同意見書葉百修.pdf (accessed 5 January 2020).Google Scholar
Cooke, Jacqueline, & Sontag, Melissa L. (2005) “Prostitution.” 6 Georgetown Journal of Gender & Law 459–90.Google Scholar
Ding, Yun-Ting (2002) “Politics of the Media Representation of the Abolition of Licensed Prostitution in Taipei City.” Master’s thesis, Graduate Institute of Mass Communication, Fu Jen University.Google Scholar
Feministissues.com (1997a) “Existential Feminism,” http://www.feministissues.com/existential_fem.html (accessed 29 December 2018).Google Scholar
Feministissues.com (1997b) “Feminist Issues in Prostitution,” http://www.feministissues.com/radical_feminism.html (accessed 29 December 2018).Google Scholar
Feministissues.com (1997c) “Liberal Feminism,” http://www.feministissues.com/liberal_feminism.html (accessed 29 December 2018).Google Scholar
Feministissues.com (1997d) “Marxist Feminism,” http://www.feministissues.com/marxist.html (accessed 29 December 2018).Google Scholar
Feministissues.com (1997e) “Socialist Feminism,” http://www.feministissues.com/socialist-feminism.html (accessed 29 December 2018).Google Scholar
Gerassi, Lara (2015) “A Heated Debate: Theoretical Perspectives of Sexual Exploitation and Sex Work.” 42 Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare 79–100.Google ScholarPubMed
Ho, Chun-Jui (2001) “Self-Cultivation and Professional Performance: Dialogue with Taiwanese Sex Workers.” 41 Taiwan: A Radical Quarterly in Social Studies 1–10.Google Scholar
Hsia, Chu-Joeet al. (2002) “A Study of Taiwan’s Commercial Sex and Sex Industry Policy.” Women’s Rights Promot Dev, Minist Interior, Exec Yuan.Google Scholar
Hsieh, Kang (1972) The Prostitution System and the Problem of Prostitutes in Taiwan, Taiwan: StrongWind Publisher.Google Scholar
Hsu, Ya-Fei (2012) “Anti-Human Trafficking and Matriarchate Politics.” 87 Taiwan: A Radical Quarterly in Social Studies 5–43.Google Scholar
Huang, Chun-Ming (1974) Sayonara, Good-Bye, Taiwan: Crown Culture Corporation.Google Scholar
Huang, Jui-Ming (2010) “The Delphi Oracle of the Justices: Comment on the JY Interpretation No. 666.” Taiwan Law Journal 22.Google Scholar
Huang, Yu-Ling (1999) “Women, State and Sex Work: Changes in Taiwan’s Licensed Prostitute Policy from 1946 to 1960” Proceedings of the Academic Conference on Sociological Perspectives, The Relationship between Feminism and Taiwanese Society, Academia Sinica, 19–20 March 1999.Google Scholar
Huo, Ming-Jen (2015) “A New Attempt on a Path: On the Connotation of Professional Freedom Guaranteed by Constitutional Economic Value Order-Taking Commercial Sex as an Example.” 9 Shih Hsin Law 228–31.Google Scholar
Imdb.com (2012) “After Porn Ends,” https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1291547/ (accessed 29 December 2018).Google Scholar
Jenness, Valerie (1990) “From Sex as Sin to Sex as Work: COYOTE and the Reorganization of Prostitution as a Social Problem.” 37 Social Problems 402–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenness, Valerie (1993) Making It Work, the Prostitutes’ Rights Movement in Perspective, New York: Aldine de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Jia, Xiu-Fen (2009) “The Japanese Sexual Customs and the Legal Situation of Women in Southeast Asia.” 6 Southeast Asian Studies 7.Google Scholar
Judicial.gov.tw (2009) “Justice Hsu, Tsung-Li’s Concurring Opinion on the J.Y. Interpretation No. 666,” 協同意見書許宗力https://www2.judicial.gov.tw/FYDownload/uploadfile/C100/666協同意見書許宗力.pdf (accessed 5 January 2020).Google Scholar
Ku, Yenling (2019) The Evolution of Feminism Theory, Taiwan: Owl Publishing House.Google Scholar
Kurosawa, Aki (2018) “Pleasure and Burden: How Young Japanese Women Conceptualize Nightwork” Presented at Asia Law and Society Association Conference, The Regulation of Sex Work in Asia.Google Scholar
Li, Chien-Liang (2010) “The Issue of Equality in Legislating against Commercial Sex—Explaining the J.Y. Interpretation No. 666.” 8 Taiwan Law Journal 15–6.Google Scholar
Li, Huailu, (2014) “Understanding the Commercial Sex Market: Evidence from Singapore,” Ph.D. diss., Boston University.Google Scholar
Li, Jen-Miao (2015) “Professional Freedom and Constitutional Review Methods.” 155 Taiwan Jurist 36–49.Google Scholar
Liang, Tien-sheng (1979) “The Nature of the Punishment Police Offenses and the Revision of the Act Governing the Punishment of Police Offenses.” 9 Police Science Quarterly.Google Scholar
Liao, Yi-Zhen (2011) “Between the Traditional and the Modern—Café and Hostesses in Taiwan under Japanese Colonial Rule.” Master’s thesis, Graduate Institute of Taiwan History, National Chengchi University.Google Scholar
Lin, Chih-Chien (2015) Reconstructing Gender Justice in Criminal Law, Taiwan: Angle Publishing.Google Scholar
Lin, Chih-Chieh, & Chuang, Yu-Chen (2010) “After the Interpretation of Article 666—Legislation and Norms of the Sex Industry in Taiwan from the Perspective of Feminist Theory.” 186 The Taiwan Law Review 18.Google Scholar
Lin, Chun-Yu (2017) “Analysis of the Commercial Sex Regulation Policy and Its Future Direction in Taiwan.” 42 Constitution Era 324–38.Google Scholar
Lin, Fang-Mei (1998) “Identity Politics in the Contemporary Feminism in Taiwan: A Case Study of the Controversy over the Abolition of Public Prostitutes.” 27 Chung Wai Literary Quarterly 60.Google Scholar
Lin, Yu-Fanget al. (2016) Taiwan’s Time Machine, Taiwan: Taiwan Interminds Publishing Inc.Google Scholar
Lis.ly.gov.tw (1987) “Congress Bill of Relations, Agenda of the Congress and Integrated Search System,” https://lis.ly.gov.tw/lgcgi/lgmeetimage?cfcec8c6cfcccfcfc5cecdc9d2cec8cc (accessed 29 December 2018).Google Scholar
Lu, Yu-Teng (2013) “History Exploration of the Adult Sex Trade Zone.” 9 Journal of Police Management 284.Google Scholar
MacKinnon, Catharine A. (1993) “Prostitution and Civil Rights.” 1 Michigan Journal of Gender & Law 13–32.Google Scholar
MacKinnon, Catharine A. (2011) “Trafficking, Prostitution, and Inequality.” 46 Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 271–309.Google Scholar
News.ltn.com (2018) “Setting up a Red Light District in Keelung City? The Speaker Says Yes, the Mayor Says No,” http://news.ltn.com.tw/news/society/breakingnews/2371455 (accessed 14 September 2018).Google Scholar
News.ltn.com.tw (2015) “Tainan City Erotic Café Becomes History after Being Sealed Up by Police,” http://news.ltn.com.tw/news/society/paper/916988 (accessed 29 December 2018).Google Scholar
Nytimes.com (2009) “Border Patrol Agent Arrested in Connection with Murders of 4 Women,” https://www.nytimes.com/2009/18/15/us/laredo-border-patrol-agent-arrested.html (accessed 29 December 2018).Google Scholar
Rabinovitch, Jannit (2004) “Peers: The Prostitutes’ Empowerment, Education and Resource Society.” 2 Journal of Trauma Practice 239–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Satz, Debra (2010) Why Some Things Should Not Be for Sale: The Moral Limits of Markets, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shen, Mei-Chen (1990) Taiwan’s Victimized Prostitutes and the Prostitution Policy, Taiwan: Avanguard Publisher.Google Scholar
Su, Fang-Yi (2014) “Regulating Prostitution: Analyzing Social Order Maintenance Act from Feminist Theories and Empirical Study.” Master’s thesis, Institute of Technology Law, National Chiao Tung University.Google Scholar
Taiwan Provincial Government (1956) “Taiwan Provincial Government Bulletin.” 45 Spring 69 698–710.Google Scholar
Tsai, Pei-Chieh (2015) “On the Defects of the Social Order Maintenance Act—Also on the Legislative Mistake of Section 1 of Article 90.” 45 Police Science Quarterly 59.Google Scholar
Tw.appledaily.com (2011) “From Tomorrow, Prostitutes and Clients Will Be Fined NTD 30,000, Social Order Maintenance Act Is Bluffing, No Red Light District in the Whole Taiwan,” https://tw.appledaily.com/headline/daily/20111105/33793982/ (accessed 14 September 2018).Google Scholar
United Daily News (1955) “The World of Art and Culture, United Supplement,” United Daily News, 12 July.Google Scholar
Wahab, Stephanie (2002) “‘For Their Own Good?’: Sex Work, Social Control and Social Workers, a Historical Perspective.” 29 Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare 39–58.Google Scholar
Wang, Chen-Ho (1994) Rose, Rose, I Love You, Taiwan: Hong Fan Publisher.Google Scholar
Wang, Fang-Ping (2015) “Rethinking the Activist of the Daily Spring Group: Social Exploration of the Course of Commercial Sex Remediation.” 10 Social Analysis 157–9.Google Scholar
Wang, Ting-Chun (1974) Be Reasonable, Taiwan: Vast Plain Publisher.Google Scholar
Wang, Wei-Lung (2008) “Sex, Human Rights, and Work—a Comparative Discussion on Adult Sex Trade Regulations,” Master’s thesis, Graduate Institute of National Development, National Taiwan University.Google Scholar
Wu, Chia-hua (2012) “Unbelievable Truth—on the JY Interpretation No.666 and Social Changes.” Taipei University Law Review 35.Google Scholar
Wu, Jo-Ying (2009) “Se(x)nsation in the Landscape—Historic Preservation of a Licensed Brothel, Wen-Ming Lo, within the Sex-Work Landscape of Dwa-Due-Dia.” Master’s thesis, Graduate Institute of Building and Planning, National Taiwan University.Google Scholar
Wu, Mei-Chi (2007) Taipei’s Coffee Hoses: Chronicles of the Humanistic Glamor, Taiwan Classics Publisher.Google Scholar
Yang, Tsui (1994) “A Preliminary Study of the Problem of Prostitution in Taiwan under Japanese Colonial Rule.” 32 Bulletin of Women and Gender Studies 6–7.Google Scholar
Young, Iris (2011) Justice and Politics of Difference, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar