20 October,2021 10:10 AM IST | Mumbai | Vinod Kumar Menon
Chapter division in one of the medical textbooks; the books include several derogatory comments about the LGBTQIA+ community, including terming the same as sexual perversion, unnatural and antisocial. Representation pic
The National Medical Commission (NMC) has directed authors of medical textbooks, especially of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, and Psychiatry, to amend and rectify their books where they have given unscientific information about virginity and made derogatory and objectionable remarks on LGBTQIA+ community.
Medical colleges and universities across India have been directed to refrain from using textbooks with such errors. The decision has come after a high-level expert committee, formed by the NMC on September 24 following directives of the Madras High Court, made their recommendations regarding the same and NMC secretary Dr Anjula Jain approved it on October 13.
The four-member expert panel under the chairmanship of Dr Vijayendra Kumar, member, Under Graduate Medical Education Board from Delhi included Dr Prabha Chandra, senior professor, Psychiatry, NIMHANS, Bangalore; Dr Surekha Kishore, executive director, AIIMS Gorakhpur and member of NMC and MAC; and Dr Indrajit Khandekar, professor, Forensic Medicine, MGIMS, Sevagram.
Two areas of concern that the panel looked into are "virginity test" in the forensic medicine and toxicology curriculum of MBBS second- and third-year course and the information related to LGBTQIA+ community in psychiatry textbooks of third-year students.
Dr Aruna Vanikar, president of UG Medical Board, NMC, said, "The NMC has already accepted the recommendation made by the expert committee and has issued advisory stating such derogatory remarks should not be in the curriculum textbooks. It has also issued guidelines and directives to both the authors and universities/medical colleges across the country."
When asked if the changes would be made with immediate effect, she said, "Some of the universities have already implemented it, and others will do accordingly." "NMC, through its advisory has asked all the authors of medical textbooks of subjects such as psychiatry, forensic medicine and toxicology, etc. to remove the unscientific information regarding virginity as well as derogatory and discriminatory comments about LGBTQIA+ community. It also stated medical colleges, universities and institutions should not approve books if they have such unscientific, derogatory and discriminatory information," explained Dr Khandekar, a panel member.
Dr Khandekar added, "A writ petition was filed in Madras HC, wherein the petitioner had opposed certain unscientific information about virginity and objectionable and derogatory remarks made in the forensic and toxicology textbook for second- and third-year MBBS students as well as objectionable and derogatory remarks about LGBTQIA+ in psychiatry textbook."
"Labelling homosexuality as sexual perversion or mental illness is offensive to individual dignity and decisional autonomy inherent in the personality of a person, a great discomfort to gender identity, destruction of the right to privacy. Some textbooks also refer to homosexuality and lesbianism as abnormal sexual behaviours. It also refers lesbianism as perversion and stereotypes lesbians stating many of them are muscular in type, morbidly jealous of one another and, sometimes, may culminate in murder or suicide," explained Dr Khandekar.
"Medical texts which treat the queer community as inhuman will send a wrong message to the public at large and will result in perpetual denial of the rights of the community. The remarks against the community also violate Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution," he said.
He further said that the Supreme Court in its landmark judgment in National Legal Services Authority (Nalsa) Vs. Union Of India has recognised transgender as a gender identity. The Apex court stated that gender identity is one of the most fundamental aspects of life which refers to a person's intrinsic sense of being male, female or transgender or transsexual person. The court further said labelling the community as sexual perversion, antisocial or mental disorder is irrational, unscientific and discriminatory.
"The remarks contained in the medical textbooks are perpetuating queerphobia by providing unscientific data and contain inhuman, derogatory remarks against the transgender community and other sexual minorities. This directly amounts to a discriminatory social attitude and contributes to the stigmatisation faced by gender and sexual minorities," Dr Khandekar added.
Among the problems pointed out in the textbooks are descriptions of virginity like signs of virginity, insertions of finger to check laxity of vaginal opening, etc. A textbook, which differentiated sexual acts as natural and unnatural, labelled homosexuality as unnatural sexual offence, sexual perversion and abnormal sexual behaviors. Homosexuality was referred to as a sexual disorder while transgenderism was marked under gender identity disorder. The books also portrayed hijras as habitual passive agents, lesbians as muscular and jealous. A part of the text also stated that transgender persons abduct young boys and castrate them to increase the numbers, which is not just unjustifable and prejudiced but also has no scientific or legal evidence.
