Legislators in Indonesia proposed a controversial law this week that would require girls to pass a "virginity test" in order to graduate high school. "If they're not virgins anymore, don't let them pass," said one of the leading lawmakers from Jember, the township in East Java pushing for the V-card test, to a local news site. The proposed policy was ultimately defeated after an outpouring of public outrage across the archipelago nation.
This is not the first time such a law has been proposed in Indonesia. In 2007, the province of West Java called for similar tests on high school graduates, and in 2013, lawmakers in South Sumatra tried as well. Both attempts failed. Still, women applying to the National Police force have been given virginity, or "two-finger" tests since at least 1965—a few months ago, the Indonesian coordinating minister for politics, law, and security told the press that giving female military recruits a hymen check has been obligatory for a while now. Last November, the head of the force's law division told the Jakarta Post that the tests can help determine an applicant's moral standards. "If she turns out to be a prostitute, then how could we accept her for the job?" he rationalized.
Local civil society organizations and foreign advocacy groups have called for an end to the bizarre practice. "President Joko Widodo should send a loud and unambiguous message forbidding virginity tests by local governments, as well as the Indonesian military, police, and civil service," Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch said in a press release on Monday.
The practice is degrading, unscientific, and in violation of human rights conventions that Indonesia ascribes to, not to mention a major obstacle to gender equality. But why is it happening in the first place? Full story...
Related posts:
This is not the first time such a law has been proposed in Indonesia. In 2007, the province of West Java called for similar tests on high school graduates, and in 2013, lawmakers in South Sumatra tried as well. Both attempts failed. Still, women applying to the National Police force have been given virginity, or "two-finger" tests since at least 1965—a few months ago, the Indonesian coordinating minister for politics, law, and security told the press that giving female military recruits a hymen check has been obligatory for a while now. Last November, the head of the force's law division told the Jakarta Post that the tests can help determine an applicant's moral standards. "If she turns out to be a prostitute, then how could we accept her for the job?" he rationalized.
Local civil society organizations and foreign advocacy groups have called for an end to the bizarre practice. "President Joko Widodo should send a loud and unambiguous message forbidding virginity tests by local governments, as well as the Indonesian military, police, and civil service," Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch said in a press release on Monday.
The practice is degrading, unscientific, and in violation of human rights conventions that Indonesia ascribes to, not to mention a major obstacle to gender equality. But why is it happening in the first place? Full story...
Related posts:
- Female police recruits in Indonesia are made to take ‘virginity tests’
- Indonesian city to require female schoolgirls to pass virginity test...
- Brazil's 'virginity test' for women sparks outrage...
- Violence erupts as alleged rape victim is subjected to banned 'Two-Finger Test'
- The virginity test in South Africa...
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