Egyptian lawmaker to women: Want to go to college? First, prove you're a virgin.
As if the SATs weren't enough, one Egyptian lawmaker says he wants to see all women interested in attending college in his country pass an additional, far more invasive examination: a mandatory "virginity test."
According to a report by the Washington Post, member of Egyptian Parliament Elhamy Agina, who advocated just last month for female genital mutilation as a means of reducing sexual impulses in women, is now calling for female college applicants to prove their maidenhood in order to be eligible to receive higher education.
"Any girl who enters university, we have to check her medical examination to prove that she is a Miss," Agina said, according to a translation of a statement he gave to Egypt's Youm 7 newspapers by EgyptianStreets.com. "Therefore, each girl must present an official document upon being admitted to university stating she's a Miss."
"Miss," as the word is being used here by Agina, has been widely recognized by Egyptians on social media as a reference to a woman who is still a virgin, according to the Post.
During his interview with Youm 7, Agina suggested that the mandatory tests would act as a stopgap measure to curb "Urfi" marriages in the country — informal, inexpensive unions that have been accused by Egypt's conservative religious officials of being a cover for premarital sex.
"No one should be upset by this decision," Agina said in the interview, according to Egyptian Streets. "If you're upset then that means you're scared that your daughter is [or was] in an 'urfi' marriage behind your back."
Egyptians responded to Agina's suggestion by mocking him openly on social media, with some angrily calling for a boycott of him, and others saying that he makes uncouth United States Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump "look disciplined."
Agina has become known for his controversial, politically abhorrent statements. In addition to granting his support to female genital mutilation last month, he also said earlier this week that hundreds of refugees who recently drowned off the coast of Egypt "do not deserve sympathy" and implied that they deserved death.