Chinese Student Shockingly Asked to Strip To Prove Period Pain For Menstrual Leave
According to the South china Morning Post, a female student was requested to remove her pants to prove that she was menstruation in order to be granted sick leave, which sparked intense public and legal outrage at a Chinese institution. The episode, which occurred at the Gengdan Institute of beijing university of Technology, sparked intense online reactions and sparked discussions on academic privacy, dignity, and gender discrimination.
On May 15, a Gengdan Institute student who had requested sick leave because of menstrual pain released a now-viral video in which she was asked to strip in the campus clinic. According to the South china Morning Post, the anonymous student can be heard in the video asking, "So what you are saying is, every woman on her period has to take off her pants and show you to get a leave note?" According to reports, a female employee said, "Basically, sure. It is a regulation, not my rule. After that, the student requested formal proof of the rule, but was told to obtain documents from a hospital instead.
In a news release issued the next day, May 16, the Gengdan Institute defended the clinic staff, claiming that they had acted "following standard procedures." According to the announcement, "Clinic staff adhered to protocols," "They were able to inquire about the student's physical state and proceeded with more diagnosis after receiving her consent. There were no physical examinations or examination tools used. The policy was put in place to make sure that sick leave was not misused, a staff member with the last name Xu also told CNR News. According to Xu, the restriction has been in place for a while. "One girl asked for leave four or five times in one month," he claimed.
Scholars Deem Policy As 'Degrading' and 'Illegal'
In china, the incident sparked an intense internet outcry. The regulation was described as "ridiculous," "humiliating," and an unacceptable infringement of privacy by online users. One social media user said on X., "This is not the enforcement of policy, but petty tyranny." "Forcing girls to remove their clothes is harassment," he stated. Former prosecutor and attorney Zhang Yongquan criticized the university's actions, saying they violated Chinese law's right to privacy.
"This is definitely an infringement on students' privacy and violates Article 1011 of the Civil Code and Article 20 of the Law on Protection of Women's Rights and Interests," Zhang told the SCMP. "Regardless of whether a tool was applied or not, requesting a student to unveil herself is humiliating and can cause psychological trauma," he stated. Zhang demanded that the university issue a public apology, compensate the student for any mental harm, and data-face administrative sanctions from the educational authorities.
Student Demands Policy Overhaul, Refuses to Retreat
In a another video, the student reiterated her demand for a respectable and reasonable menstrual leave policy while explaining that she had visited a hospital and had the necessary paperwork. "If the school has a written regulation where the female students must expose menstrual blood to a female physician to be given sick leave, I will remove my video," she said. "But if there is no such regulation, I am not going to back down."
Legal professionals, students, and internet users are all putting more and more pressure on the institution to formally apologize and to implement a sick leave policy that is more kind and polite. Serious concerns about how women's health is seen in Chinese educational settings are raised by the dispute, which also highlights issues of larger concern around gender sensitivity, mental illness, and trust between students and institutions.