Minister Pounded for Virginity Tests

Women's Human Rights Project (WHPR), an NGO focusing on the rights of women, sharply criticizes Turkish Minister of Health Osman Durmus, for his virginity test circular on the nursing school students.

Upon strong reactions by women's organizations including the WHPR, Minister Durmus had to step back from his initial arrogant challenges and explained that the circular was "apparently a typing error."

The Education Ministry circular for schools in general was reproduced for the schools under the Health Ministry but with typing errors, Durmus responded the charges. But the women's organizations are yet unconvinced that this was an innocent mistake by a typist.

In a letter to the Minister Durmuş, and Prime Minister Ecevit on Thursday WHPR said:

"We are appalled by the latest act of the Minister of Health of Turkey, which aims to bypass the ban on virginity exams brought into action two years ago after many years of protest by women and women's groups in Turkey. We know that the attempts to control women's virginity until today have caused the despair and the death of many young women in the country. As such, this order is clearly an order of murder.

The control of virginity is one of the most patriarchal tools of control of women's bodies and lives. The aim of education should be to eradicate such practices that violate women's human rights and not to reinforce them.

The duty of the government is to provide access to gender-sensitive education to all girls and boys and equip them with the tools to enhance their critical thinking skills. the Turkish government has no right to interfere in young women's control of their own bodies.

The order decreed clearly violates the articles 10, 12, 20 and 42 of the Turkish Constitution, and international agreements that Turkey has signed, such as, Articles 2 and 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Articles 8 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Articles 7, 17 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and CEDAW.

We will take every action to support women of Turkey in their struggle to protect their human rights, which they have obtained through utmost struggles throughout the decades.

We demand that this order be cancelled immediately and expect Mr. Durmus to issue an apology to all women in Turkey. "