Indonesian army ends “virginity tests” on female cadets

The Indonesian Army ended the “virginity tests” on female cadets which the World Health Organization determined has “no scientific merit or clinical indication,” involves someone placing their fingers into a cadet’s vagina to supposedly assess whether they have had sex.

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The use of virginity tests by Indonesian security forces was first exposed by Human Rights Watch in 2014.

According to its investigation, virginity tests have been imposed on thousands of female applicants since 1965, despite the National Police principles that recruitment must be both “nondiscriminatory” and “humane.”

Virginity testing–also known as hymen, “two-finger” or vaginal examination–is an inspection of the female genitalia to ascertain whether a woman or girl has engaged in vaginal intercourse.

A group of United Nations agencies, in a joint statement issued in 2018, called for scrapping of tests meant to assess the virginity of a girl or a woman, describing the practice as a form of gender-based violence and a human rights violation with no scientific basis.

There is no known examination that can prove a person’s history of vaginal intercourse. The practice can cause both immediate and long-term consequences that may be harmful to the physical and psychological well-being of a woman subjected to it.