Notes on the Speech by Taipei City Mayor Chen Shui-pien

Main points

1. A draft of the "Law on the control of prostitution" was given to the city parliament for review. It passed the third reading by unanimous vote on July 30, 1997. It had to be announced and implemented within one month after the city government received the passed motion from the city council. Therefore, on September 6, 1997 Taipei's age-old system of licensed prostitution was abolished.

2. We did not easily make the decision to abolish licensed prostitution on our own, but negotiated with the city council for approval. Between first motion and official announcement of abolishing licensed prostitution lay 7 to 8 months, in which there had been time for all involved parties to discuss and amend the motion. The city government has acted according to the law, i.e. the entire process has unfailingly followed the legal procedures.

3. We also understand that if we want to be an advanced country, an advanced society and an advanced city, we have to embrace an advanced thinking. This means as an advanced country, an advanced society we cannot possibly embrace the phenomenon that someone uses sex services to obtain a high income. We believe that this kind of advanced thinking will obtain the endorsement of every member of society in any advanced country, advanced society and advanced city. In this respect we must understand that we were among the founding members of the United Nations Organization and the UNO adopted a major resolution. In December 1949 the UN officially passed a "Convention for the suppression of the traffic in persons and of the exploitation of the prostitution of others." We were one of the nations of the UN, so we had to comply with this resolution prohibiting trafficking in people and exploiting others through prostitution, and stopped. This is a fact. It was the trend and current of that time to abolish the system of licensed prostitution in countries such as the USA, England, Japan, and even those countries, which are more open about sex, such as Holland and Scandinavia. We have to mention here again, that the so-called abolishing of licensed prostitution cannot be expanded to all the sectors of the sex industry. These are two different issues. Within this global trend now less than 20 countries of 192 nations still retain a system of licensed prostitution. So after the UN "Convention for the suppression of the traffic in persons and of the exploitation of the prostitution of others" was passed, it became a global trend and current. It is a completely different issue that the age-old sex industry cannot be completely abolished, but it became the main tendency regarding the legal existence of licensed prostitution to "suppress the exploitation of the prostitution of others."

4. How to deal with those who have problems in that respect? Taipei is not the first place to abolish the licensed prostitution system in Taiwan. In fact, we are late compared to some other towns and counties in Taiwan. The comfort women under the Japanese imperialistic rule during World War II did not receive any consolation and justice. When the "831" clubs, which existed in the army, were abolished, everyone was worried that those soldiers who went to see prostitutes would pose a threat to the women on the compound, if they were not able to release themselves seeking prostitutes. However, it has been several years since the clubs were closed and there exists no evidence that these soldiers had raped any women in the compound. Can there be two standards? Can 128 licensed prostitutes satisfy the needs of all the single men in Taipei?

5. Naturally there are some people who asked: But surely this is a question of the licensed prostitutes having a right to work? Even Scandinavia and some other more open nations do not think so. The existence of prostitutes is not a matter of a right to do sex work, and should not receive the protection of the law and the constitution. Of course, this is what they think, but this question is worth to be disputed. Many will think that the prostitutes should be given some economic protection, protection of their right to work, so I want to ask you back: And what about the unlicensed prostitutes. Are they not doing it to feed their families? If the licensed prostitutes have right to work they should have licenses, then the unlicensed prostitutes should be treated the same way, shouldn't they? So I think there should not be a double standard in this matter.

Taipei Mayor's International Rhetoric

1. "Progressive" societies would not allow prostitution to exist;

2. all the "advanced" countries have prohibited prostitution; and hence

3. It is a "global trend" to eliminate prostitution.

Right Now, only a two-year grace period can give TALP sisters the legal and financial power to start to fight for decriminalization of all prostitution.