KPK Civic Knowledge Test Blasted for 'Unethical and Sexist' Questions

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Human rights watchdogs Gerak Perempuan (Women's Movement) and KOMPAKS (Civil Society Coalition Against Sexual Violence) heavily criticized the contents of the latest Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)'s state apparatus civic knowledge test (TWK), which is an exam before KPK employees switch their status into state apparatuses. 

Several questions in the test, they said, were deemed unethical as they tend to be sexist, having religious and racial biases, and discriminative. 

Gerak Perempuan noted from numerous sources that the test contained questions about marital status, sexual desire, willingness to be a second wife, up to questions about what KPK employees do in their relationships. 

According to one of the group’s members, Prilly, the questions are irrelevant to the tasks and responsibilities of an employee who works in an anti-corruption institution and unsuitable to be asked in an interview. 

“Questions like these are questions that have sexist nuances and based on the presumption that women merely function as reproductive organs and are deeply judgemental towards the privacy of KPK employees,” Prilly wrote in a written statement on Friday, May 7.

Apart from the sexist questions, Gerak Perempuan also found issues with how the test questions tried to dig deeper into one’s religious values and how that person lived based on the religious perspective, which she said violated the individual privacy of a citizen. 

This test, which will see KPK employees become a state apparatus and no longer work under the status of an independent corruption watchdog, follows the passing of Law No.19/2019 and changes to Law No.30/2002 regarding the shift of status of its employees. 

The significant difference about being a state apparatus is in the work ethics, which is a stark contrast to being an independent KPK employee. They will no longer have the liberty to unionize once they are officially state apparatuses.

Prilly added that many considered this test as a process to filter out KPK employees who had been critical against KPK leaders’ policies. 

The group demands the KPK supervisory board cancel the evaluation that is based on trivial tests and guarantee the safety and identity protection of the test participants who were required to answer unethical, sexist, racist, and discriminative questions. 

They also demand President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo intervene in the issue by cancelling the test results, which the group deemed as an attempted harassment against KPK employees.

Read: 75 KPK Employees Fail Civic Knowledge Test to Become State Apparatuses

ANDITA RAHMA