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A decade of confusion after the Sex Trade Act

Posted September. 24, 2014 02:24,   

한국어

The procedure, which started from vice ministers’ meeting to ministers’ meeting and a voting in the National Assembly, for the legislation of the Act on the Prevention of Sexual Traffic and Protection, etc. of Victims (or the Sex Trade Act) that came into effect in September 2004 was unusual. The then minister said to me later, “I thought this law doesn’t make sense when the bill was sent to the ministers’ meeting. But if I had opposed it, I could’ve been heavily criticized by some women’s rights groups, lawmakers, and the Gender Equality and Family Ministry, so I kept silent. Maybe, other high-ranking officials and lawmakers were thinking the same thing.”

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Sex Trade Act, covert sex trade is still rampant in new types of businesses and its side effects are serious. A medical practitioner said, “The number of STD patients visiting my clinic has increased significantly probably because health management for women is not working.” Some see that the Act is related to the soaring number of grotesque sex violence cases and prostitutes who are going abroad.

Bok Geo-il, a writer, said in his writing in 2007 titled, “A reasonable attitude towards prostitution,” “A law that tires to block prostitution is predicated on the wrong assumption on human nature.” It means that banning sex trade not only is against the principle of liberalism and but also lacks the philosophical rationale for society to ban it. Similarly, the Economist perceived prostitution as a “labor contract.” Few intellectuals have lived life as seriously and earnestly as Bok who said he would keep writing until the day he dies though he is a terminally-ill cancer patient. When his writing was publicly released, some feminists criticized him.

Nanami Shiono, the author of the Story of the Roman People, said, “That good will does not necessarily lead to good results is the truth of human society that can be seen anywhere.” Although the violation of women’s human rights, human trafficking and violence should be strictly punished, it remains controversial whether it is right for the state to intervene in the “bed business.” Now, who can put a bell on the cat, arguing for the elimination of the law? The conflicts over the Sex Trade Act, which has been pushed forward without serious thoughts about human nature and reality, are unlikely to subside going forward.