At the beginning of August this year, General Andika Perkasa announcement that the Indonesian military would end compulsory “virginity tests” for female recruits. Such a statement signals the progress of the long-standing global campaign against the practice, but there is still a long way to go. It is not known if and when the ban will come into effect; Indonesian police, navy and air force will always demand negative results from these tests, and aside from the inaccuracy and misinformation surrounding these tests, virginity tests continue to take place around the world , reinforcing harmful stereotypes of female sexuality.

“”The UN declared in 2018: virginity tests “have no scientific or clinical basis […] can affect the physical, psychological and social well-being of women and girls. “

The so-called “two-finger test” has been used by the Indonesian military since 1965, but was not revealed until 2014 by Human Rights Watch. It has been and remains condemned nationally and internationally as degrading, discriminatory and pseudo-scientific. Under the guise of an “obstetrics and pregnancy test” as part of the recruiting medical examination, the test is carried out to supposedly determine whether the candidates’ hymen is intact, based on the mistaken belief. that it can only be broken through intercourse. In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Indonesian military spokesperson Fuad Basya said, “We need to look at the mentality of these candidates. If they are no longer virgins, if they are mean, it means that their mentality is not good. This reasoning is also used to justify the virginity test of women marrying Indonesian soldiers, virginity being considered an important quality in determining a “good” future wife or female soldier. In a joint statement published in 2018, the World Health Organization, the United Nations for Human Rights and UN Women have called for a “collaborative response” to end the practice – which “has no scientific or clinical basis” and ” can be detrimental to the physical, psychological and social well-being of women and girls “. being.”

Not only is the test a traumatic and humiliating medical examination, it also indicates the disturbing persistence of an archaic belief system that directly equates a woman’s worth with her virginity. Societies have searched for a physical sign to determine virginity since time immemorial – it is now known to be scientifically impossible. Despite this, virginity tests are still performed in at least 20 countries. Prisons and detention centers around the world, including Egypt, India, Iran and Afghanistan, have also recently been exposed for performing illicit virginity tests. In February of this year, it was reported that many women Student activists detained in Tehran for participating in peaceful protests against the Iranian regime were subjected to virginity tests in prison. In one particular case, after resisting the test, Parisa Rafiei, a 21-year-old student, was sentenced to an additional 15 months in prison on top of the seven years she is currently serving.

“The practice reinforces the idea that sex outside of marriage is only acceptable for men […] and perpetuates the idea that female sexual activity should be subject to public scrutiny ”

In the United States, rapper TI sparked a wave of public criticism in 2019 when he openly admitted to the Ladies like us podcast to take her daughter to annual virginity testing. Having recognized that the hymen can indeed be ruptured by activities such as horseback riding and cycling, he assured the interviewer that “she doesn’t ride a horse, she doesn’t ride a bike, she doesn’t ride. no sport. , Stating that he considered the tests to be accurate. This demonstrates how the practice not only reinforces the idea that extramarital sex is only acceptable to men, but also perpetuates the idea that female sexual activity should be subject to public scrutiny.

The UK is not exempt. In 1979 The Guardian exposed a so-called ‘gynecological exam’ carried out by immigration authorities on a 35-year-old Indian teacher who had traveled to the UK to get married. Her status as a single woman was questioned and she was subjected to a virginity test. After a public outcry, the exams were stopped, but the practice was not completely eradicated. Last year alone, BBC found out 21 clinics across the UK offering both virginity testing and ‘hymen repair surgery’, an operation costing between £ 1,500 and £ 3,000.

It remains to be seen if there is a meaning behind The words of General Perkasa; will the army really put an end to the procedure? Needless to say, virginity testing is a global issue, highlighting issues of women’s bodily autonomy, sexual health, and women’s rights. The British government has banned the process – certainly a step in the right direction – but in reality, this decision is only the tip of the iceberg. Lasting change can only come from combating harmful beliefs about female “purity”, a concept that intersects with important social, cultural and religious beliefs.