Indonesia's female police candidates are being forced to take 'virginity tests'

Human Rights Watch criticized Indonesia on Tuesday for forcing its female police candidates to take "virginity tests," a practice that was banned four years ago.

The test, which supposedly determines if a woman's hymen is still intact, has been "widely discredited as unscientific and degrading," according to Reuters.

A spokesperson for the Indonesian National Police confirmed that women are indeed tested, but are not required to pass in order to become police officers. Human Rights Watch, however, notes that married Indonesian women aren't eligible to become police officers.

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"Applicants who failed the test were not necessarily expelled from the force, but women described the test as painful and traumatic," Nisha Varia, associate women's rights director at Human Rights Watch, told Reuters. Varia said the test is "discriminatory" and "humiliates women." --Meghan DeMaria

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