Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Homosexuals are as bad as rapists, Polish nurses taught

Homosexuality is on a par with rape and prostitution, according to official teaching materials for Poles studying to be nurses and midwives.

Teaching books refer to homosexuality as a "pathology" and the subject often comes under the section of "sexual problems", where students are instructed on "how to identify and provide assistance in situations of sexual assault and sexual disorders".

A multiple-choice question from a 2011 exam paper on gynaecology read: "Homosexuals are particularly dangerous socially and seduce individuals by . . ."

Students are then given a number of options including "abnormal sexual drive" and "prostitution".

The curriculum content has been condemned by equal-rights campaigners in Poland, a country where conservative attitudes towards homosexuality still hold sway over large parts of the population.

"This is a particularly dangerous incident of homophobia," said Agata Chaber, the president of the Campaign Against Homophobia.

"Official information in course curriculums is regarded as reliable and verified. Therefore, very few people will question it."

Unacceptable

Anger has been intensified by the fact that the teaching material went unchallenged for 10 years despite reviews by leading Polish medical scientists.

Agnieszka Kozlowska-Rajewicz, who holds the role of Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment in the Polish government, said the course content was "unacceptable".

She added that she had written to the health ministry calling for its teaching to end immediately.

The health ministry said it would initiate a review of the teaching material with the aim of bringing it up to date but this could take some time because of legal procedures.