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After Criticism, Revised Medical Curriculum that Termed Lesbianism as 'Sexual Offence' Withdrawn

author The Wire Staff
Sep 06, 2024
Distinction between consensual sex between queer individuals was also done away in the revised curriculum. These topics were introduced by the NMC in 2022 to make the education more friendly to LGBTQ+ community.

New Delhi: After outrage over the recent changes made in the medical curriculum for undergraduate medical students and its regressive language, the curriculum has been withdrawn in its entirety.

Recently, the forensic medicine curriculum for undergraduate medical students was revised by the National Medical Commission (NMC), the country’s apex medical education regulator, with “sodomy and lesbianism” being brought back under the category of unnatural sexual offences.

“The above guidelines will be revised and uploaded in due course,” an official notification states, withdrawing the earlier changes, reported The Indian Express.

Other topics which were part of the revised curriculum included importance of hymen, definition of virginity and defloration, and its legitimacy and medico-legal importance, which had been done away with in 2022 when the module was modified in accordance with the directions of the Madras High Court.

Distinction between consensual sex between queer individuals was also done away in the revised curriculum along with adultery and offences such as incest and bestiality. These topics were introduced by the NMC in 2022 to make the education more friendly to LGBTQ+ community.

The revised curriculum has resulted in criticism for its regressive content, following which the decision to withdraw it has been taken.

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