May 21, 2015

Non-virgins apparently a danger to Indonesia´s national security

located:	Indonesia
editor:	Nurcan Özdemir

Indonesia is home to the world's largest Muslim population and places a high value on virginity. Women seeking to join the military or marrying military officers still have to undergo the „two-finger-test“ to ensure that the hymen is intact. Human Rights Watch researchers interviewed 11 Indonesian women who were military wives and female officers. They described two fingers being used to open the vagina while one finger was placed in the anus.

According to Indonesian armed forces spokesman Major General Fuad Basya, being a virgin is a matter of national security. He insists that doctors could tell if a hymen was damaged because of an accident, disease or because of a „habit“, local media reports. If that „bad habit“ was the case, it would affect women´s mental state and they couldn´t defend the nation´s sovereignty, territory and security. Which basically means that non-virgins are a danger to Indonesia´s national safety.

Obviously, being a virgin does not make you better in any job. Also, the test is scientifically not even valid since the hymen is a thin piece of membrane attached to the vaginal wall and it´s state varies for many reasons in size, laxity or even existence - unrelated to sex. It is not that it seals like a door that can only be opened through sexual intercourse. But most important: the procedure is not only humiliating but traumatizing and an affront to women´s dignity.

This is just the latest controversy about virginity tests with the Indonesian national police facing a widespread condemnation last year for using the procedure on female applicants. The government said it would no longer require women to undergo the examination when enrolling at a college for civil servants, although it appears that police recruits are still tested. In February, after sparking a public outcry, Indonesian officials ultimately dropped a plan to require school girls of passing virginity tests in order to graduate from high school.

The new HRW report comes as global health officials gather in Bali for the World Congress on Military Medicine currently taking place in Bali.

Image: ©JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images