Friday, January 07, 2011

Some Insights From The Legalization of Taiwan’s Sex Industry

Taiwan’s sex industry will be legalized.

This from Forbes.com,

What sets Taipei apart from, say, Beijing or Hong Kong is that the government is legalizing the sex trade instead of squelching it. Taiwan will formally decriminalize prostitution in November, but it will be legal only in certain areas. Officials are now studying where those areas should be; one proposal would allow studio-style brothels in parts of Taipei. The explanation for this move to live and let live: The world's oldest profession happens to be one of Taiwan's best organized.

Read the rest here

Some thoughts

-Perhaps in realization of the futility in eradicating prostitution through legal means, the Taiwanese government finally relents to its legalization.

Just a reminder, contrary to popular wisdom, edicts don’t stop the demand and supply or the economics of deemed 'immoral' activities such as prostitution, drugs, gambling or etc., instead they get to be diverted from official channels to the underground with accompanying unforeseen (mostly untoward) consequences.

-as seen with most accounts of prohibition laws, the adverse side effects have been legalized criminality or corruption. As the article notes

“Inconsistent law enforcement also troubles the trade. Police prey on lone streetwalkers while taking bribes from pimps to protect the prostitutes who work for underground brothels, the collective charges.”

-The government’s epiphany did not come impulsively though; major lobby groups by the stakeholders and their supporters had been forged and grew powerful enough to advance the thrust towards decriminalization.

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