Virginity Test Proposed For Indonesian Students

[doggie]

glad this seems like it will get shot down but the stupid burns.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/2 ... 84499.html

PALEMBANG, Indonesia -- Indonesian officials on Tuesday dismissed as excessive and unethical a proposal by an education official on Sumatra island that would require female senior high school students to undergo virginity tests to discourage premarital sex and protect against prostitution.

Muhammad Rasyid, head of the education office in South Sumatra's district of Prabumulih, said he wants to start the tests next year and has proposed a budget for it. But other officials and activists have criticized the plan, arguing it is discriminatory and violates human rights.

Social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook lit up with outrage, with some people calling the tests a form of child abuse that could emotionally scar the students.

Provincial education chief Widodo, who uses only one name, said Tuesday he will suggest that Rasyid drop the plan.

"There are many more important and useful things that need to be cared for rather than such a test," he said. "As students, they need to be nurtured more than be judged."

In the capital Jakarta, Aris Merdeka Sirait of the National Commission for Child Protection, said the plan was "just aimed for popularity."

"Loss of virginity is not merely because of sexual activities. It could be caused by sports or health problems and many other factors," Sirait said. "We strongly oppose this very excessive move."

When disclosing his plan Monday, Rasyid said the idea would attract criticism but defended it as "an accurate way to protect children from prostitution and free sex." In order to pass, it would need approval from the district council of lawmakers.

But Education Minister Mohammad Nuh described it as a violation of common principles.

Nurul Arifin, a female legislator from the Golkar Party, said the plan was unethical and "discrimination and harassment against women."

A similar plan was scrapped in another Sumatran province in 2010 amid widespread criticism.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country of 240 million, is a secular nation where most practice a moderate, tolerant form of the faith. However, some conservatives are worried rapid modernization is eroding morals.

[Khan]

This sounds like a way to:

1. Sexually assault girls in the name of protecting them.

2. Humiliate girls into leaving school.

[tenth muse]

Apart from everything else wrong with this idea, it really bugs me that the hymen is equated with virginity. The hymen is a piece of skin. Some girls are born without one, ffs. Sometimes it doesn't break during sex. Sometimes it does. Sometimes it takes a while.

[doggie]

This could cause the very thing it is supposed to prevent. Makes me think he may have waned to help in checking.

[Clementine]

It's sad when a religion is so focused on small pieces of genital skin as islam is. Foreskins must be removed or else you are not a real muslim, but hymens must be intact, or else you are not a good muslim.

Don't they have better things to focus on? Such as international terrorism, human rights abuse, a bunch of revolutions and wars, dictators and a terrible reputation. Hymens? Really?

[Ariel]

It's sad when a religion is so focused on small pieces of genital skin as islam is. Foreskins must be removed or else you are not a real muslim, but hymens must be intact, or else you are not a good muslim.

Don't they have better things to focus on? Such as international terrorism, human rights abuse, a bunch of revolutions and wars, dictators and a terrible reputation. Hymens? Really?

My guess is that hymens and foreskin are easier to control.

[ILoveJellybeans]

That would be absolutely awful for a child to go through. Adults should not be examining children's genitals unless there is an actual health issue.

Hymens are also easily broken by other things, like playing sports or riding horses.

[Handmaiden of Dog]

What action does he propose to take if the child's hyman is not intact? Does the girl not get to graduate? Does she get shunned? Stoned? There is nothing good that can come out of this nonsense.