GENDER, SEX WORK, AND HUMAN RIGHTS: A STUDY OF THE LEGAL REFORM OF COMMERCIAL SEX IN CONTEMPORARY TAIWAN

This dissertation discusses the issue of commercial sex in Taiwan. In Today's Taiwan, the only place to conduct legal sexual transaction is in the very few licensed brothels. Even though the Social Maintenance Law (SOMA) allows the local governments to establish red-light district in their territories; however, none of them so far have considered establishing such red-light district. Outside of the red-light district that does not exist and the licensed brothels, Article 80 of SOMA sanctions sex workers and their clients with administrative fines. With almost no place to conduct legal sexual transactions, the sex industry hides in shadows. Murders, exploitations, and trafficking are haunted in this underground industry. In order to protect human rights of sex workers, legal reform is needed. I use this dissertation to argue the current criminalization legal regime should be discarded and commercial sex should be decriminalized in Taiwan. In order to find the best approach that assures human rights of sex workers, I discuss and analyze the policies of the United States (Criminalization Approach and Legalization of brothels), Sweden (Criminalizing clients), the Netherlands (Legalization Approach), and the New Zealand (Decriminalization Approach). I concluded the Decriminalization Approach is so far the best approach to ensure the human rights of sex workers. I argue the Constitutional Court in Taiwan should issue Interpretation to recognize the legal status of sex work and the SOMA should cease to be implemented. Lastly, for establishing the new decriminalization regime, I propose my own suggestions toward the new legislation regulating commercial sex.