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Disqualifying Divorced Women from Sergeant Recruitment Constitutes Gender Discrimination
Date : 2007.03.29 00:00:00
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In August 2006, a complainant only known as Bae (24) filed a complaint against the Army and Special Warfare Command to the effect that “The Special Warfare Command’s disqualification of divorced females from sergeant recruitment is a discriminatory act.” The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) determined that such act was discriminatory, violating the right to equality. Accordingly, the NHRCK recommended to the Army and Special Warfare Command that the provision allowing only unmarried women to become female sergeant candidates be failed.
The complainant is a divorcee and applied for the Special Warfare Command’s sergeant recruitment. However, the applicable army regulations allow only unmarried women to become female candidates, and the complainant was disqualified according to the interpretation by the Army and Special Warfare Command that divorced women should be regarded as married women.
In addition to discrimination based on the marital status of women, the NHRCK judged that it was basically sex-based discrimination to impose the requirement of being single on female candidates only and not male candidates. Accordingly, the NHRCK examined both contentious points, i.e. discrimination based on marital status and discrimination based on sex.
In response, the Army and Special Warfare Command put forward the following reasons as to why only unmarried women are qualified female candidates. Successful sergeant candidates of the Special Warfare Command must undergo 14 weeks of basic training after their selection. Married women might experience accidents due to pregnancy, and there is concern that fetuses and pregnant women may be harmed. They may also experience great difficulty in forging bonds of camaraderie with their mates and in working as part of teams. The Army and Special Warfare Command explained that said standards apply to divorced women as well.
The Commission determined that differentiating divorced women from unmarried women produces no substantive effect and that it would be appropriate to classify divorced women as unmarried women with regard to pregnancy risks and the difficulties associated with group life. It is because there is no explicit legal provision that requires divorced women to be regarded as married women, and divorced women, like unmarried women, are not married to anybody. Furthermore, unmarried women who are appointed as sergeant may get married after completing the training. In addition, the possibility that pregnant women will apply for the training seems extremely low, especially given the rigor of the training. Therefore, the Commission determined that setting limitations on women’s applications according to marital status constitutes gender discrimination as the risks and dangers associated with pregnancy are nearly non-existent and only people of a certain sex are subject to the restrictions on qualification according to marital status.
The Commission recommended to the complainees that they should not exclude divorced women in their recruitment of sergeants and should delete any provision requiring only female candidates to be unmarried (provision of Article 19 of the Army Regulations #106).
* Army Regulation #106 (provision on acquisition and appointment of non-commissioned officers)
Article 19 ② Male and female nationals of the Republic of Korea aged 18 to 27 as of the date of appointment; provided, however, that female applicants shall be unmarried women.
