Jakarta, May 2 -- Chair of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Atnike Nova Sigiro has stated that undergoing a vasectomy is a human right and should not be a prerequisite for accessing social assistance.

Her statement was a response to West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi's plan to make vasectomy a requirement for public aid from the provincial government, including scholarships and social assistance.

"This is also a matter of privacy; decisions about one's body, including whether or not to have a vasectomy, are human rights. Therefore, it should not be exchanged for social aid or other benefits," she said at the Komnas HAM office on Friday.

According to Sigiro, the human rights discourse opposes punishing or coercing indiv...