Indonesia’s practice of subjecting would-be female police officers to ‘virginity tests’ is “discriminatory and a form of gender-based violence,” that has to be stopped, Human Rights Watch says.
“Police authorities in Jakarta need to immediately and
unequivocally abolish the test, and then make certain that all
police recruiting stations nationwide stop administering
it,” Nisha Varia, associate women’s rights director at Human
Rights Watch, said in the statement released on Tuesday.
The watchdog interviewed female police officers in six Indonesian
cities to find out if women applying for a job in law enforcement
still have to undergo virginity tests, despite previous promises
by police officials to abolish the practice.
The video with the interviews is now posted on the Human Rights
Watchdog official YouTube feed. The women, hiding their faces
from cameras and concealing their names, say they had to go
through the pain and humiliation of the ‘two-finger test’, which
HRW describes as an archaic and discredited practice.
So many reasons why it's wrong. #Indonesia's police shd stop requiring women applicants to undergo "‘virginity tests" http://t.co/46jQ97NkI3
— Nisha Varia (@Nisha_Varia) November 18, 2014
“Entering the virginity test examination room was really
upsetting,” one 24-year-old woman recalls. “I feared
that after they performed the test I would not be a virgin
anymore. It really hurt. My friend even fainted because ... it
really hurt, really hurt.”
The requirement for undergoing the test is posted on Indonesia
national police’s official website.
"In addition to the medical and physical tests, women who
want to be policewomen [sic] must also undergo virginity
tests,” it reads. “So all women who want to become
policewomen should keep their virginity."
Indonesian police spokesman Maj. Gen. Ronny Sompie urged people
not "respond negatively" to the tests, explaining that
they are done to ensure the applicants do not have
sexually-transmitted diseases, AP reported.
"All of this is done in a professional manner and did not
harm the applicants," Sompie said.
Testimonies recorded by the HRW, however, indicate the opposite.
“I don’t want to remember those bad experiences,” a
19-year-old woman said. “It was humiliating. Why should we
take off our clothes in front of strangers? Yes, [the virginity
testers] were women, but they were total strangers. It was
discriminatory. It is not necessary. I think it should be
stopped.”
Currently women account for only 3 percent of 400,000 police
officers in Indonesia. The National Police force plans a massive
increase in the number of policewomen, though. By December there
are expected to be 21,000 female police officers, or 5 percent of
the total police force.
Human Rights Watch has also documented the practice of virginity
tests for policewomen in other countries including Egypt, India
and Afghanistan.
Last year, some education officials in Indonesia proposed that
virginity tests be introduced for teenage schoolgirls, causing an
uproar.