Today, in this episode of “Taiwan in the international news”

I want to talk about an article that was published in a Belgian newspaper called “Het Laatste Nieuws” on the 29th of May.

I was surprised by this article, because I had no idea that a law like that existed in Taiwan.

The title of the article (that I am going to translate from Dutch) is:

“Taiwan abolishes law that sentences people for adultery”.

Apparently, in Taiwan, if you are a married couple and one of the two people cheats,

They can be prosecuted in the court of law and face up to one year in prison!!

I had no idea… We don't have a law like that in Belgium.

Let's go ahead and read the article.

Taiwan abolishes law criminalizing adultery

The highest court of justice in Taiwan has decided to abolish a law that could convict a person who cheats in a marriage to a prison sentence.

Hsu Tzong-li, president of the judicial branch of the Taiwanese government has said in a statement that the 85-year-old law has been abolished

because it was a serious “violation of a person's sexual autonomy” and a “serious invasion of personal privacy”.

Previous to this decision, the ministry of Justice has conducted a research finding that 70% of the population was against the abolishment of this law.

This number surprises me actually.

This means that many people in Taiwan are still in favour of this law and think it's good that a person who cheats ends up in prison potentially.

Kuan Hsiao-wei, an assistant to a professor at the University of Taipei has called this decision of the court a milestone in the history of sexual human rights in Taiwan.

It was stated that women had a 20% higher chance of getting convicted of the charge,

even though men were committing the cheating act more often.

Activists stated that the law could also pressure victims of sexual assault not to file charges,

because the adultery charges were far more easy to prove in court than sexual assault.

I don't know what you think about this, but in my personal opinion it can only be positive that this law doesn't exist anymore.

If you consider those women who are fearing to report rape and sexual assault out of fear that they if they fail to prove the rape,

they might be the ones who get convicted for cheating. That is scary

and I can understand that many women are not prepared to take that risk so they just keep quiet.

I think that is a big problem.

Don't get me wrong: here in Belgium we don't have this law, but it is completely socially unacceptable to cheat.

Of course

But we don't have the government taking care of that.

It is something between those 2 people. It is their relationship and if something like that happens,

If one person cheats, the other one is free to leave.

Maybe in some cases… For example: if one person cheats and they want a divorce

And then they are fighting for the children's custody, maybe in that case a judge can use this cheating argument against the person

To say to the judge: “this person is not responsible, is not serious enough to take care of the children. Look at what they did.”

It can be used against them, but it can never directly lead to a sentence when you cheat on your partner.

It is time to read some of your comments on last week's video about the Taiwanese Human Rights Museum getting a German award.

Willy Nieh says: “Hi, glad to see you again here, just like an old friend of mine.

By the way, I'm not from Taiwan, but as you I care about that little island, stinky tofu is pretty good too, have a good time”

Thank you Willy, I really like Taiwan too!

I don't know why this small, little island at the other side of the planet caught my heart like that.

It is always nice to see other foreigners who have such a love for Taiwan too.

Tracy W writes: “I watch videos every morning and practice my listening. What a great video and I enjoy your smile!”

“I really hope to see you soon in Taiwan.”

Thank you Tracy! I'm always so happy to hear that people practice English with my videos.

I'm trying my best to pronounce well for you.

Wen Tou Chen wrote: “Stinky tofu :D I heard about the museum before but haven't been there yet.”

“This video makes me feel that I should go for a sight.”

Yes, you are right! You should go. And I should go too!

I had the same feeling. When I was doing research about that museum, I was surprised that I had never heard about it before

And I thought: waw, that is something to add on my list next time I go to Taiwan.

That was it for today's video. I hope you found it as interesting as I did.

I am curious to hear about your opinion on this matter.

Let me know in the comments down below if you think it is a good thing (or not) that this law will be abolished.

If you stayed until the end, you are one of the elite people

Let's use the password:

Owl

Because there is one on my shirt. Can you see it?

If you write “owl” in the comments down below, I know you watched until the end

Thank you so much! Don't forget to “like” and “subscribe”

I hope to see you soon in the next video. Bye bye ~