According to Human Rights Watch, the organization fighting to get the practice abolished – female police recruits who make only 3% of the country’s police force, are being forced to take ‘virginity test’ before they begin training.
The Indonesia police recruitment website says, ‘All women who want to become policewomen should keep their virginity.”
The female police officers who have undergone this test, which examines them to make sure their hymens are still intact, say its ‘painful, traumatic and really upsetting’ and are asking that it be stopped.
“I feared that after they performed the test I would not be a virgin any more. It really hurt. My friend even fainted because … it really hurt, really hurt.’ a recruit told HRW
Human Rights Watch say they are working with the government to get rid of the practice as its ‘discriminatory and a form of gender-based violence’.
