Why does Indonesia demand that female military recruits are virgins? - BBC News
Human rights activists want Indonesia to stop so-called virginity tests being used in the recruitment of female military recruits.
"Bonkers", "primitive" and "unscientific" are words used to describe it by one of the Human Rights Watch (HRW) researchers who interviewed women who had been subjected to the test.
The World Health Organization has said: "There is no place for virginity testing; it has no scientific validity."
HRW says the tests are also discriminatory and have no bearing on a woman's ability to perform her job.
What's happening in Indonesia?
Virginity tests are obligatory for female military and national police recruits who are typically high school graduates aged between 18 and 20. HRW's research indicates that the air force, army and navy have for decades also used the test on the fiancees of military officers before marriage.
It also says local governments and the civil service have been known to use the test. In February, officials in Jember, East Java, scrapped a plan to make high school girls be tested before they could graduate from high school.
How important is it that recruits are virgins?
According to armed forces information chief Major Gen Fuad Basya, it's a matter of national security.
He said: "If it is not restricted this way, then someone with a bad habit will become military personnel. Soldiers are a nation's defenders. They defend a nation's sovereignty, a country's territory and security."
He told local media if a candidate had lost her virginity out of wedlock her mental state would make her unfit to become a soldier.
He said "It may be because of an accident, disease or because of a habit" - meaning sexual intercourse.
"If it is their habit, the Indonesian military cannot accept potential recruits like these."
An army wife interviewed by HRW said the rationale given to her was economic.
"The military wants healthy couples," she said. She added: "Military men often travel away from home. They should trust their wives."
Human rights activists want Indonesia to stop so-called virginity tests being used in the recruitment of female military recruits.
"Bonkers", "primitive" and "unscientific" are words used to describe it by one of the Human Rights Watch (HRW) researchers who interviewed women who had been subjected to the test.
The World Health Organization has said: "There is no place for virginity testing; it has no scientific validity."
HRW says the tests are also discriminatory and have no bearing on a woman's ability to perform her job.
What's happening in Indonesia?
Virginity tests are obligatory for female military and national police recruits who are typically high school graduates aged between 18 and 20. HRW's research indicates that the air force, army and navy have for decades also used the test on the fiancees of military officers before marriage.
It also says local governments and the civil service have been known to use the test. In February, officials in Jember, East Java, scrapped a plan to make high school girls be tested before they could graduate from high school.
How important is it that recruits are virgins?
According to armed forces information chief Major Gen Fuad Basya, it's a matter of national security.
He said: "If it is not restricted this way, then someone with a bad habit will become military personnel. Soldiers are a nation's defenders. They defend a nation's sovereignty, a country's territory and security."
He told local media if a candidate had lost her virginity out of wedlock her mental state would make her unfit to become a soldier.
He said "It may be because of an accident, disease or because of a habit" - meaning sexual intercourse.
"If it is their habit, the Indonesian military cannot accept potential recruits like these."
An army wife interviewed by HRW said the rationale given to her was economic.
"The military wants healthy couples," she said. She added: "Military men often travel away from home. They should trust their wives."