Indonesia urged to end discriminatory virginity test for female security force applicants

Prepared: Dozens of police women and female Indonesian Military (TNI) members attend a call for readiness ceremony at the wedding of President Joko

JAKARTA: New York based rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to order the chiefs of the National Police and Indonesian Military (TNI) to immediately ban virginity testing for female applicants, saying the practice is a form of gender based violence.

The decades old practice that includes a “two-finger” test to determine whether a female applicant’s hymen is intact was degrading and discriminatory, as well as harming women’s equal access to job opportunities, HRW women’s rights advocacy director Nisha Varia said.