Taiwan to Hold Referendum on Introducing Corporal Punishment for Drunk Driving and Sexual Violence

The Taiwanese parliament has passed a referendum motion asking whether to impose corporal punishment, such as flogging or whipping, on offenders convicted of drunk driving or sexual violence.

According to local media, the Legislative Yuan put the referendum motion for the introduction of corporal punishment, proposed by the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), to a vote. It passed by a razor-thin margin of just one vote, with 52 in favor, 51 against, and all lawmakers from the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) abstaining.

However, the passage of this motion does not mean that corporal punishment will be implemented immediately.

For the system to be adopted, it must clear a future national referendum and ultimately be followed by revisions to the criminal code.

Human rights organizations, including the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty and Amnesty International Taiwan, immediately issued a joint statement to express their opposition.

In the statement, these groups made it clear that they oppose the proposal to apply corporal punishment to specific crimes such as drunk driving and sexual violence.

They pointed out that corporal punishment not only violates the spirit of the constitution but also directly contravenes international human rights obligations prohibiting torture.

They emphasized, "Even though a referendum is a core institution of democracy, majority rule cannot be used as an excuse to legitimize punishments already prohibited under international law."

They also raised doubts about the crime-deterrent effect of corporal punishment.

While proponents of corporal punishment emphasize its crime-prevention effectiveness, the groups argued that no such effect has been proven in existing studies.

They noted that criminological research consistently points out that the core of crime deterrence lies not in the severity of punishment, but in the certainty that one will inevitably be punished.

Currently, corporal punishment has been mostly abolished worldwide, except in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and some nations that apply Islamic Sharia law.

(Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Lee Jung-joo | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.