The Indignities Of Life As A Woman In A Muslim-Majority Country
Female police recruits in Muslim-majority Indonesia (a supposed center of "moderate" Islam) are forced to undergo "virginity tests," reports Kate Hodal in The Guardian:
Female recruits hoping to join Indonesia's police force are forced to undergo two-finger "virginity tests", a rights group has found, a practice that leaves the women traumatised, humiliated and in pain.The testis listed publicly as a requirement to enter the force and performed as part of the chief of police's health inspection guidelines for new candidates, which requires women to complete an "obstetrics and gynaecology" exam.
While female recruits are also expected to be single and not marry until they have been in the force for a few years, Indonesia's national police website claims they must also undergo virginity tests in addition to general medical and physical examinations, with the added warning: "So all women who want to become policewomen should keep their virginity."
The practice contravenes Indonesia's national police principles as well as international human rights policy, says Human Rights Watch (HRW), which interviewed female police recruits and serving female officers across six cities.
While women who "failed" the test were not necessarily prevented from entering the force, all of those interviewed said the examination was painful and traumatic and described the practice as widespread.
"Entering the virginity test examination room was really upsetting," one interviewee said. "I feared that after they performed the test I would not be a virgin anymore. They inserted two fingers with gel ... it really hurt. My friend even fainted."
via @TimCushing
Will Lena Dunham be performing these tests?
Oh, alright, I denounce myself.
I R A Darth Aggie at November 19, 2014 7:02 AM
Amy, you don'ts likes the Moozlims!
You think them people is meeeeeen!
We get it.
Just curious, though... Is there any body of similarly undercooked culture —perhaps illiterate jungle tribes on the Amazon or in the Serengeti, maybe some inbred nomads shuffling across the Taklamakan— who you think would be better-behaved as neighbors to Israel, or anyone else, than are Moozlims?
Because I'm wondering if you're considering the full scope of human experience here.
Because, y'know, Islam is not atypical as regards matters of erotic flexibility.
…Which, I think we can all agree, is one of the most important kinds of flexibility. Even in Indonesia.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at November 20, 2014 1:16 AM
Amy Alkon
https://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/11/the-indignities.html#comment-5521506">comment from Crid [CridComment at Gmail]Crid, I have nothing against Muslims in general (those whom are peaceful and do not follow the dictates of Islam); it is Islam that is the problem.
Amy Alkon
at November 20, 2014 5:20 AM
So, what you're saying is, you decline to take the point in all respects: You were forgetting the question even as you read it, and you only want to think about MOOZLIM.
Seems kinda monomaniacal, but do whatcha need to do.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at November 20, 2014 2:07 PM
I mean, did anyone SAY you "have something against Muslims in general"?
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at November 20, 2014 2:08 PM
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