When a neighbour does what?! (1 Viewer)

[Snowmelt]

I found out this morning that a neighbour has some pretty weird concepts about their security issues.

And that neighbour is a neighbouring country, not the person with whom I can knock on the door and have a cup of coffee.

To highlight some of the particulars found in the article (reported on ABC - Australian Broadcasting Corporation):-

• The aspiring female police officers must be unmarried and remain unmarried for 2 years after joining the police force.
• These female job applicants must undergo an invasive (and unscientific) process to discover if they are virgins.
• Facial proportions are important to the job application.
• Once married, and holding down a job in the police force, the woman must get written permission from her husband to continue in that policing role.

The article can be found here:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-20/indonesian-policewomen-must-be-pretty-subjected-to-tests/10333762

Quote:

"Indonesian policewomen were rarely visible prior to 2013 but their prominence has grown since being deployed in socially visible fields such as traffic coordination and media spokespersons.

The recent deployments seem to justify the belief that female police officers are required to maintain a certain level of beauty to facilitate positive relations between the police force with the public."

 

[CrystalSong]

Oh my.
I'm sure in the 40's or 50's we had some standards like this for Airline Stewardesses and such. It's nice to see times changing!

 

[Linda]

Oh my.
I'm sure in the 40's or 50's we had some standards like this for Airline Stewardesses and such. It's nice to see times changing!

The early ones had to be nurses, too.

 

[Snowmelt]

In the article, it is reported that Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Andreas Harsono) is actively checking reports that an invasive test to see if the hymen is still intact is still being carried out during the recruitment process for female police officers. A striking thought. Something I don't think we've ever seen in Australia.

 

[Laron]

This is just about the type of thing you would expect to be satire!

 

[Lila]

I guess that's one thing you can do with your beauty, your 'virginity' and your young, unmarried state in modern day Indonesia. I hope there are more enticing choices for young Indonesian women.
You can do different things with those qualities elsewhere, some far more enticing to me, some not so much.

I do recall being aware, at a relatively young age, that I was glad that I didn't feel like I was generally regarded as particularly 'pretty' since I didn't like so many of the associations I saw with that. As I grew older, I embraced being thought of as beautiful and loved it, though I am quite sure this followed feeling capable of fending off the 'icky'-feeling approaches and associations I observed all around me.

The '2 finger' hymen + anus test for virginity for each prospective member of the female portion of the police force that is mentioned in the article sounds invasive, uncomfortable and very open to all kinds of abuses. I would consider it sexual abuse when done between nonconsenting individuals, and that includes any individual who either doesn't have complete information about what the test involves beforehand or feels coerced. And since it seems to me that anybody who is a virgin cannot have what I would consider complete information about what such a test involves beforehand that clinches for me how I feel about such a test. Further, I can't imagine trusting any institution which uses such a test, period.
Seeing such a test used as a criterion for joining a public institution like the police force says much to me about the institution.
For that aspect especially, I would agree with Pucksterguy's posting in the "Silly Memes" thread, "You need an "ewww yuch" rating icon."

 

[therium]

Indonesia has a large Muslim population. That might help explain this.