Introduction

In daily practice, prostitution is simply the explicit selling and buying of sex. However, if we reduce the complex social practices of prostitution to sex we will fail to examine the economic, political and ideological underpinnings of prostitution, that is, the social problems that underlie it. As O’Connell Davidson has argued, ‘the ills associated with prostitution can be addressed only through far broader political struggles to rid the world of poverty, racism, homophobia and sexism’ (1998, p 189). This chapter will discuss the historical development of prostitution in Taiwan, the legal and feminist responses to prostitution, and some projections on the future of prostitution in Taiwan.

The national context

Organising against prostitution

The social and legal status of women in Taiwan has greatly improved in the past two decades. This success can be partly attributed to the campaigns of the women's movement in Taiwan, focusing on promoting women's equal rights via an effort to amend unequal laws. Women's organisations have existed since the 1920s; however, women's organisations propagating feminist ideals and devoting themselves to radical social change did not emerge until the Awakening Foundation was founded in 1982 (Hsieh and Chueh, 2005). The first campaign against the trafficking of children was organised by the Awakening Foundation, the Taiwan Association for Human Rights and the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan in January 1987. It is generally considered the beginning of the women's movement in Taiwan. The campaign identified punters, traffickers, brothel owners, pimps and corrupt police at the centre of the abuse of child prostitutes. Moreover, inappropriate policies against the indigenous tribes that let them fall into poverty were considered as the major reason that young women and girls from these tribes were sold to brothels. Subsequently, the relatively large number of indigenous women and girls in prostitution became a public concern. Growing out of this initial campaign, the Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation was founded with the goal of eliminating trafficking of women and child prostitution. The early campaign against prostitution helped to legitimise the creation of other women's organisations, as well, which eventually led to the development of a fully fledged women's movement in Taiwan.

Legal efforts against prostitution

In the legal efforts against prostitution, since the late 1980s Taiwanese women's organisations have demanded reform of the patriarchal 1930 Family Law, which until the mid-1990s entirely denied women equal rights in marriage.