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Indonesian policewomen measured through 'purity and beauty', subjected to virginity testing
Women looking to become police officers in Indonesia are reported to have to undergo an invasive "two-finger" virginity test and be "pretty" as a part of the recruitment process.
Key points:
Virginity testing female police recruits continues despite pressure to end the practice
Policewomen must also be "pretty" and subjected to a list of physical standards
The policewomen are often deployed in high visibility roles such as public relations
Despite the tests not being recorded or on the books as an official requirement, it is still conducted throughout the country under the guise of a "morality or physical examination".
Andreas Harsono from the Human Rights Watch said Indonesian police believe that society will not accept a female police officer who has an active sex life or used to be a sex worker.
"The logic is that they only want good girls to be police officers," he said.
The test is conducted by inserting two fingers into the vagina to see if the woman's hymen is still intact a method which has long been criticised as invasive while also not being able to accurately determine a woman's virginity either.
Indonesian woman Zakia whose last name is not included to protect her identity told Human Rights Watch in a complaint obtained by the ABC that she had failed her test when she applied to become a police officer earlier this year.
Zakia claimed the virginity test she was subjected to was not conducted by a medical doctor.
"They didn't just insert their fingers into my vagina, but also into my anus. They kept probing
it was extremely painful," she said.
"Every time I remember what happened, I cry
I feel like I don't want to live anymore."
Zakia was a martial arts athlete who said that over the years she has had to do many splits and other exercises which may have ripped her hymen.
"Once, I fell and my vagina hit a block of wood, but I don't know whether my hymen broke," she said.
"My mother told me not to worry about it
but I told [the police officers interviewing me] that I remember feeling great pain in my vagina due to the fall after that, the interview was over," she said.
Zakia said she was intimidated by the officers to "come clean" and insisted she was a virgin she did not get accepted to the second round of the selection process.
'We consider these cases of sexual violence'
Virginity testing is no longer officially allowed in Indonesia following international pressure from human rights groups over the years, but a study published this year by Sharyn Graham Davies from the Auckland University of Technology found vaginal and hymen examinations to still be a key part of police recruitment.
Anisha, a 27-year-old policewoman in Dr Davies' study, said she believes the testings should continue.
"The test shows that we as women can protect ourselves and therefore we are capable of protecting other people," she said.
Mr Harsono claims that the practice is also rife in the Indonesian military, where he said some 70 per cent of the medical staff who conduct the tests are male doctors.
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