In July 2021, Indonesian Army Chief Gen. Andika Perkasa informed army commanders that the requisite medical verification for female officers in the recruitment procedure should be equivalent to the male medical test, foreshadowing the end of the so-called “virginity test”.
Applicants would be evaluated exclusively on their competence to partake in physical training, while applications for male army personnel to marry would now exclusively encompass "administrative concerns," rather than a medical examination of officers' fiancées. This is an unexpected decision to cease the cruel, unscientific, and discriminatory “virginity test” that female recruits have historically been subjected to by all divisions of the Indonesian military.
MISOGYNY IN INDONESIA
In Indonesia, female military and national police recruits – who are often high school graduates aged 18 to 20 – were compelled to undergo virginity tests as part of their physical examination. The tests were regulated under Chief Police Regulation No. 5/2009 on Health Inspection Guidelines for Police Candidates. Article 36 of the Regulation requires female police academy applicants to undergo an “obstetrics and gynaecology” examination. Personnel from the Police Medical and Health Center would perform the tests in police-run hospitals.
The Indonesian Armed Forces Personnel has asserted that such tests are a national security concern, as else anyone with “atrocious behaviour” would enlist in the military. A candidate's state of mind would make her unsuitable to serve as a soldier if she had lost her virginity outside of marriage. In certain situations, the obligation had been stretched to female fiancées of military officers, on the pre-conceived notion that military men are often away, so they should have wives with “moral” values.
THE LEGITIMACY OF THE “TEST”
A virginity test is undertaken to attempt ascertain if a woman has participated in pre-marital sex, or to inspect habituation to vaginal intercourse. Virginity testing generally involves the insertion of fingers into the female genitalia to examine the laxity of vaginal muscles or evaluation of the hymen (a thin fold of mucous membrane located at the orifice of the vagina). As per the World Health Organization (WHO), virginity testing is unscientific, dangerous, and a violation of women's human rights, with immediate and long-term implications that are hazardous to the physical, psychological, and social well-being of those are subjected to the test.
In its 2018 report Eliminating Virginity Testing, the WHO noted that “the sight of a hymen is not a credible indicator of intercourse, and there is no known test that can substantiate a history of vaginal intercourse”.
VIOLATION OF RIGHT TO EQUALITY
The Constitution of Indonesia [1945] incorporates equality before the law under article 27 and article 281 which state that every person shall have the right to be free from discriminative treatment based upon any grounds whatsoever, and shall have the right to protection from such discriminative treatment.
Furthermore, Indonesia’s obligation to uphold the right to equality under international instruments, inter alia includes Article 7 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and article 1 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The cruel practice violates the right to equality as it was mandatory only for women, not men, who may also engage in pre-marital sexual intercourse. The practice is un-reliable or unscientific, and also results in adverse health implications, which further violate the right to the highest attainable standard of health under article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
LOOKING FORWARD
The scrapping away of the test re-establishes the notion of equality, promotes gender justice, and protects the human rights of women who wish to serve in the Indonesian army. Rights activists and organizations have also applauded the decision, though the criminalisation of such practices across the nation would be the ultimate victory.
Most countries have abolished the archaic and unscientific practice of virginity testing, yet women and girls in at least 20 countries – including Afghanistan, Egypt, and South Africa – are still frequently forced to undertake vaginal inspection for numerous reasons, for instance due to requests from prospective partners or perhaps even prospective employers, as confirmed by the UN.
Sarthak Gupta is an undergraduate law student on the B.A; L.L.B [Hons] at the Institute of Law, Nirma University, India. His academic interests include Constitutional Law, Human Rights law; Gender Studies, and International Law.