A commissioner from Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), Sitti Hikmawatty, is in hot water for her claim that "an especially strong type of male sperm" could impregnate "sexually active" women in the swimming pool.

For that comment, she could potentially lose her job.

According to Jakarta Post, she had made the statement in an interview with Tribunnews on Feb. 21.

“Even without penetration, men may become sexually excited [by women in the pool] and ejaculate, therefore causing a pregnancy."

"If women are in a phase where they are sexually active, [such a pregnancy] may occur. No one knows for sure how men react to the sight of women in a swimming pool,” she added.

Her statement instantly went viral on international news and drew immediate flak from the medical and online community, with many calling for her resignation.

cara berenang untuk mencegah kehamilan pic.twitter.com/BM7XQdNdeL

— willy (@yanghuihong) February 27, 2020

(Translation - Above: So embarrassing.; Below: how to swim to avoid pregnancy)

Blog Dokter, a popular medical source on Twitter, emphasised that swimming in the pool will not cause pregnancy.

"Not all swimming men ejaculate and sperm cells cannot live in chlorinated pool water, let alone swim into the vagina," tweeted the blog with 1.7 million followers.

Blog Dokter added that it was unfortunate that the comment came from a member of KPAI, an official state institution.

Saya tegaskan disini, berenang bersama lawan jenis tidak akan menyebabkan kehamilan.

Tidak semua laki laki yang berenang mengalami ejakulasi dan sel sperma gak bisa hidup di air kolam yang berklorin, apalagi berenang masuk ke vagina.

— dokterMade (@blogdokter) February 22, 2020

Indonesian comic artist KomikFaktap also responded to Sitti's comments, posting a parody poster of the movie Jaws on Twitter. The movie title had been changed from 'Jaws' to 'Awas', which means 'danger' in Indonesian. The caption translates to: 'The importance of proper sex education'.

Pentingnya edukasi seks yang benar.#komikfaktap pic.twitter.com/JzkD0a3HoW

— FAKTAP (@KomikFaktap) February 22, 2020

To curb the backlash, KPAI itself had to issue an official response saying that Sitti’s statement did not represent the organization.

“We hereby state that KPAI’s understanding and attitude are not reflected in the online news narrative,” wrote KPAI chairman Susanto in a press statement on Saturday. 

She apologises

Last Sunday, Feb. 23, Sitti publicly apologised, admitting in a press release that she had made an “inaccurate statement”.

“It was a personal statement and not from the KPAI,” she said, adding that she had already made a retraction.

https://t.co/umU2SkYOek

1. I apologize to the public for giving an incorrect statement
2. The statement is my personal statement and not from KPAI. I hereby revoke the statement
3. I plead with all parties not to disseminate further or even to make it public (viral)

— exctashe (@extashebae) February 23, 2020

However, KPAI had already decided to form a three-member ethics committee to decide her fate in the institution.

Potential sanctions

On Tuesday, Feb. 25,  the council, which comprised of a former Constitutional Court justice, former National Human Rights Commission commissioner and Press Council chairman, and former Women and Children’s Empowerment Ministry secretary, was convened.

The council might take up to a month to decide their penalty for Sitti's statement.

"This should serve as a lesson for all officials to be extra careful when they make public statements," KPAI's chairman Susanto told AFP.

Top photo from KomikFaktap and Tribunnews/Youtube.