Earning the rights to be called as a ‘Police Officer’ is always a herculean task. Needless to say, the aspirants are asked to go through a series of robust assessments, which pushes you to your limits both physically and mentally. While you can prepare yourself for these legit evaluations by working hard and making sacrifices, you don’t really have a choice in hand when you are asked to strip naked or judged by your looks.
Yes, in one of the most bizarre procedures you will ever come across, striving police officers in Indonesia are being subjected to a ‘virginity test’ in order to be eligible for the job. Also popularly known as the “Two Finger Test”, the procedure involves a female coordinator inserting her two fingers into a candidate’s vagina to ensure if her hymen is still intact. That would determine if the woman is a virgin or not. Explaining the horror, Andreas Harsono of Humans Rights Watch, said,
“The young women are led into an examination hall, 20 to a group, where they’re asked to strip down to their bra and underwear. Then, two by two, they’re asked to go into a smaller room where they are asked to take off their underwear. They’re then told to lie down on the bed and spread their legs while a female examiner inserts two fingers to check the vagina of the applicant.”
If that wasn’t enough, the women who opt for the job of a police officer are required to be pretty as well. Wait, what?
However, the Indonesian Police also have a ‘reason’ for the extremely intrusive procedure. They firmly believe that the Indonesian people won’t accept a female officer who has an active after sex life. To put it straight, they only want ‘good girls’ to be police officers.
Interestingly, the disgusting way of examining the aspirants is a process that is being carried on for decades. Even though you won’t find a single rulebook which lists this process as a requirement to for becoming a part of the police, it is still being administered in the country.
Now, here is what will disgust you more. Being women themselves, some senior female officers in the country consider the Test to be an important one and wants it to continue. Speaking about the same, 27-year-old policewoman, Anisha said,
“The test shows that we as women can protect ourselves and therefore we are capable of protecting other people.”
In a world where women are disrespected in every way possible, nothing comes as a surprise anymore. And when it doesn’t bother the people with authority, which include women themselves, this ain’t gonna stop soon.