Better to tear down stigmatization than the city listed Wenmeng Building!

At a press conference attended by a group of around 20 people from the Collective Of Sex Workers And Supporters, COSWAS (日日春關懷互助協會) on March 18, COSWAS secretary Wu Jo-ying (吳若瑩) said that The Wenmeng Building (文萌樓) was listed as a historical city site in 2006 for its intangible cultural value as “a center for resistance to the city’s moves to abolish prostitution,” thereby giving the masses a better understanding of the plight of vulnerable groups and low-level workers.

As the Wenmeng Building and surrounding community of Guisui Street (歸綏街) have been stigmatized with prostitution for many years, tearing down stigmatization is an extremely important issue; what truly needs to be torn down is not the historically listed Wenmeng Building, but discrimination in society and the attempted obliteration of history by land speculators.

However, Warden Hung Chen-heng (洪振恒) from Shuanglian Borough (雙連里) in Datong District (大同區) said signatures from local residents were being collected in the hope that public pressure would force the “hookers’ cultural heritage” eyesore to be torn down, allowing for speedy progress to be made in urban regeneration.

Better to tear down stigmatization than the city listed Wenmeng Building!
URL: https://www.peopo.org/news/270777

(以下是中文對照)

廢除市定古蹟文萌樓 不如廢污名

日日春關懷互助協會等20多人，3月18日召開記者會，日日春關懷互助協會秘書吳若瑩表示，文萌樓2006年已被指定為市定古蹟，白紙黑字顯示它「作為反廢娼運動基地」的無形文化價值，讓社會大眾理解弱勢、底層的勞動處境：文萌樓周邊歸綏街一帶社區，長年來承受了和公娼們一樣的性汙名，如此顯得廢汙名的重要性；真正該廢除的不是被指定為古蹟的文萌樓，而是社會上的歧視與可能抹煞歷史的土地炒作。大同區雙連里長洪振恒則這段期間內，大力募集居民聯署，希望以週邊居民的民意壓力，排除「妓女戶古蹟」的阻礙，來加速都更的進行。