Chinese women protest at gynaecology checks for civil service jobs Favorite 

On November 26, 2012, about ten college students “flash mobbed” the front of the human resources and social welfare department of Hubei Province in central China. "Refuse to take off pants for inspection," "Ask about menstrual history, what does it have to do with being a civil servant." According to the current admission regulations, female candidates for civil service positions must go through a detailed gynecological examination. The students believe this violates women’s privacy, and has nothing to do with whether or not one is qualified to work in public service.

It was a modest protest: about 10 university students in winter coats, waving placards near a government office in the central Chinese city Wuhan. Yet the reason for the demonstration was shocking. The students were protesting against a requirement that women applying for civil service jobs must undergo invasive gynaecological examinations.The demonstrators in Wuhan have joined a growing chorus of Chinese activists who, despite the government's hard line on public protests, have shone a harsh light on China's deep-rooted gender inequality and job discrimination.

"Gender discrimination is very widespread and in many senses institutionalised in China," said Geoff Crothall, communications director for the Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin. "What's been increasing in the past few years is the number of women in social and civil society activism groups who are standing up and demanding change."

The regulations that provoked the protest have been in force since 2005, and require women applying for civil service jobs to undergo invasive testing for sexually transmitted diseases and malignant tumours. Applicants have also been asked to provide information on their menstrual cycles.

"Through this demonstration, we call on government departments to drop the examinations," one of the protest organisers told the Legal Daily. "Sexually transmitted diseases can't be transmitted at work, so we think it's unnecessary to test for them – and the tumour examinations, these are unnecessary as well," said Huang Yizhi, a lawyer with the centre. "If I'm going to the hospital in order to find work, is it really necessary to examine so many things, even those relating to my extremely private parts?"

According to "Zhu Xixi" and "Xiao Er," two Wuhan female college students who initiated and participated in this "flash mob" action (both are pseudonyms), they submitted a request for information disclosure to the Hubei Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security in the afternoon of the 28th, demanding an explanation for the basis and purpose of the "civil servant gynecological examination" and other related clauses. In the application for information disclosure, they also requested that the Hubei Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security reply to questions such as whether the civil servant gynecological examination will screen applicants, the proportion of screening, specific numbers, and privacy protection during the examination process and results.

In response, Song Xinran, who is responsible for receiving visitors at the office of the Hubei Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, told Nandu reporters that according to relevant regulations, a reply will be given within 15 working days. He also stated that Hubei Province strictly implements national regulations in civil service recruitment medical examinations, "We are implementers of policies, not makers."

The organizers stated that next, they plan to mobilize netizens nationwide to submit applications for information disclosure to various provinces. Furthermore, depending on the situation, they will also submit applications for information disclosure to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Ministry of Health, which are responsible for formulating and implementing the current regulations.

In March, the Beijing-based non-profit social justice group Yirenping Center sent an open letter to government agencies including the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security protesting against the gynaecological examinations, but it received no reply.