Women in Sao Paulo state, Brazil must submit to invasive gynecological exams or have a doctor attest to their virginity if they want to apply for a job with the state’s department of education. Women’s NGOs in Brazil have characterized the requirements as a violation of women’s rights to dignity and equality. They demanded that Sao Paulo state stop requiring the tests or subjecting women to the humiliation of requesting that a doctor prove they have not been sexually active.
Entities in other Brazilian states have imposed similar discriminatory requirements on female job applicants, including the police force in Bahia. Due to public outrage, the Bahian government has since asked that the police stop testing women.
The Sao Paulo education department justified the exams as necessary to confirm a job applicant was healthy and would not take frequent or extended absences.
Compiled from: Anger in Brazil at Obstetrics Tests for Jobseekers, The New York Times (August 8, 2014)