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THE WOMEN REVOLUTION: No More Virginity Tests For Women Cadets in Indonesian Army
“Whether the hymen was ruptured or partially ruptured was part of the examination… now there’s no more of that,”
It took time, but liberation was still desirable. In a cherished move, the Indonesian Army has finally abolished the controversial and ‘abusive’ virginity tests for female cadets. That’ll make you squirm, but the ‘two-finger’ virginity test was as invasive as it seems, and reportedly required checking the hymens of women cadets.
All this was done to ensure the recruiter of the ‘cadets’ purity.’ While it’s troublesome to find any reasoning behind the need to check a woman’s virginity for whatever job she’s applying for, the one thing probably making this worse is selecting a terribly unreliable, outdated and obsolete practice to do so. It was a double fail from the get-go and an idea that exasperated human rights activists and campaigners no end.
“Of course, I am grateful (for the decision) even though I think it comes too late. It’s absurd and ludicrous to think that in this day and age, there is still a virginity test to determine whether a female recruit passes a professional examination,” said Irawati Harsono, a veteran female police officer who personally underwent the test when she signed up to become an officer in 1964.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly urged countries worldwide to stop the virginity tests, saying that they are unscientific, harmful and a violation of women’s and girls’ human rights.
The presence of the hymen is not a reliable indication of vaginal intercourse, let alone someone’s moral freedom.
The test, however, had been carried out in the Southeast Asian country for decades and was even extended to the fiancées of male soldiers as a prerequisite to receiving their commanding officers’ written approval for the marriage.
