"Urine Test During Menstrual Leave"... Seoul Institute of the Arts Withdraws After Ten Days

"Misogynistic Measures" Controversy Over Human Rights Violations
School "Will Discuss with Student Council to Prepare Additional Measures"

Seoul Institute of the Arts strengthened related regulations to require a urine test at a hospital in order to use menstrual leave, but withdrew the regulation after ten days amid controversy over human rights violations.

On the 21st, Seoul Institute of the Arts posted a notice titled "Withdrawal of Strengthening Menstrual Leave Document Submission and Future Operation Plan" on the school's official website. In the notice, the university stated, "Recently, we attempted to strengthen the supporting documents for using menstrual leave, but due to issues such as the lack of medical evidence for the supporting documents, we have decided, after discussions with the student council, to have a voluntary improvement and guidance period for the second semester of this year."

It added, "The student council will lead a voluntary self-regulation campaign and collect opinions from students, and we will closely monitor the use of menstrual leave in the second semester to prepare additional measures based on accurate data."

Seoul Institute of the Arts Photo by Seoul Institute of the Arts, Yonhap News

Seoul Institute of the Arts is a private arts college located in Danwon-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi Province. On the 12th, the school announced the "2024-2nd Semester Menstrual Leave Attendance Recognition Guidelines," which stated that in order to use menstrual leave in the future, students must undergo a urine test at a university-designated hospital and obtain a diagnosis or medical confirmation document indicating the relevant details, sparking controversy.

The university explained in the notice, "At the request of the student council in the first semester of 2022, medical confirmation documents were allowed as supporting documents for menstrual leave in addition to diagnosis certificates, but usage has since increased sharply," and added, "In the first semester of 2024, 53.5% of absences recognized as attendance were due to menstrual leave." To prevent abuse of menstrual leave, it stated, "From the second semester, the diagnosis or medical confirmation document must include a statement that a urine test was conducted to use menstrual leave."

Menstrual leave is a system that allows female students to miss classes for legitimate reasons when they suffer severe pain before or after menstruation. The National Human Rights Commission recommended in 2006 that treating female students' absences or early departures due to menstruation as sick leave or early leave is an excessive disadvantage and infringes on their health rights. Following this, the Ministry of Education and Human Resources introduced the system nationwide for elementary, middle, and high schools starting in March 2006.

For universities, the introduction of the system is not mandatory, and specific operational methods are determined individually by each university. In the case of Seoul Institute of the Arts, menstrual leave can only be taken for one day corresponding to the date of medical treatment and can be applied for up to three times per semester.

After the news of Seoul Institute of the Arts strengthening menstrual leave regulations became known, debates continued both within the school and on online communities. In particular, there were voices criticizing that submitting urine mixed with blood constitutes a human rights violation.

A representative of Seoul Institute of the Arts told Yonhap News Agency, "Cases of improper use contrary to the purpose of the menstrual leave system have increased, and ignoring this was judged as neglecting the university's responsibility," adding, "However, due to criticisms of human rights violations and the lack of medical evidence for determining menstruation through urine tests, we decided to withdraw the regulation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.