Why were Invasive Virginity Tests Conducted on Female Militants?

The Indonesian military is finally banning virginity tests from their process of shortlisting candidates. This is a victory for the Komnas Perempuan (National Commission on Violence Against Women) as the campaign's purpose was to eradicate these invasive tests. Virginity tests have been used for decades by the Indonesian military, but it was mainly used on young women. The reason as to why these tests take place is due to it being a test of morality. This baffled many women’s rights activists and caused them to immediately take action against it.

So, what are virginity tests? The virginity tests themselves are a process of deciding whether or not a female at birth has lost their virginity. In this case, the “two-finger tests” would be conducted, in which the doctors would check the hymen of female recruits. If the hymen seemed ruptured or partially ruptured in any way, then they would be declared to have lost their virginity. If the woman has remained a virgin, then it shows their morality and principle. The World Health Organization has mentioned they have “no scientific validity” that the hymen could determine whether or not they have had intercourse. 

Indian Gilang, an air force spokesperson, mentioned that pregnancy tests are taken to check whether or not the recruits had any cysts which could harm their performance. He claimed that “virginity tests” do not exist in their force’s terminology. On another note, virginity tests are currently banned in places like New York as a bill was introduced: it prohibits physicians from performing virginity examinations, on pain of professional misconduct and possible criminal charges. 

In reality, virginity tests do not fulfill the purpose of testing one’s virginity. If the hymen is damaged, it does not necessarily mean that they have not had any sexual relations. Anyone can lose their virginity through other means such as anal or oral intercourse. Furthermore, the hymen can break through the process of other activities like cycling or swimming. The examination of the hymen can not definitively deduce that the person has engaged in sexual intercourse, therefore it is not a virginity test. 

The concept of morality is widely misunderstood. It is not bound by the standards set on people by society. According to the dictionary, morality means one’s ability to distinguish one’s intentions, decisions, and actions in terms of what is good or bad. You maintain your principles by deducing what actions are positive or negative. Yet, the idea of morality is lost by conducting tests like these. Being a virgin does not suggest that you are moral in any way, but it puts a value on you in men’s eyes. Standards set by women have suggested that a woman who is “innocent” has more value compared to a woman who is not. 

Generally, a woman who has remained a virgin is seen as “pure” - it fetishizes the virginity of young women. The compulsory testing sends the message that if a woman has lost her virginity, then she has also lost her value. These types of tests only promote the idea that women do not have the right over their bodies. Rather, it only allows people to take ownership over their bodies. Additionally, virginity tests do not apply to men. Although it may be scientifically impossible, it is not generally seen as an issue of being more sexually active as a man. Men are not commonly objectified as women are, and so they do not have many expectations to fulfill. Hence, the life of a man and a woman are led in two very different ways. 

At the end of the day, the virginity tests were banned - women no longer have to face systematic abuse from the government anymore. Virginity tests had no real purpose apart from emphasizing the objectification of women. Rather, the oppression of women was further amplified by suggesting that these tests would be a test of their morality. None of the male recruits had to go through a test such as this because it does not apply to them. Thus, morality can not be tested from a scientifically invalid and abusive test, instead, it can come from the prohibition of these so-called virginity tests. 

Sources: 

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