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Jakarta: The most senior doctor in the Indonesian military has said he does not believe a torn hymen should prevent a woman from entering the armed forces.
Female military applicants in Indonesia are subjected to virginity tests - including the unscientific "two-finger test" to determine if the hymen is intact - before they are accepted into the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI).
Human Rights Watch is lobbying countries - including Australia - who are attending an international conference on military medicine in Bali this week, to urge Indonesian president Joko Widodo to abolish the "discriminatory and invasive testing".
Speaking ahead of the conference, the head of the TNI health centre Major General Daniel Tjen told Fairfax Media that from a medical perspective, a torn hymen was "just like a tattoo".
"When someone has a tattoo it does not mean they have a health problem," Major General Tjen said.
Major General Tjen said recruitment regulations, including the health test, were being reviewed.
"From the medical point of view, I will suggest to the team that a torn hymen does not significantly relate to someone's health. So, someone with a torn hymen can still become a military personnel. That's my personal view but as a medical person I will suggest that to the team."
He said he was optimistic that the new regulations would lead to better conditions.
But TNI commander General Moeldoko told reporters virginity was the gauge of a woman's morality.
This was something a woman must have to serve in the armed forces, along with physical strength and academic aptitude.
The virginity test was a "measure of morality. There's no other way", General Moeldoko was reported saying in the Jakarta Globe.
"So what's the problem. It is a good thing, so why criticise it?"
Human Rights Watch and the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims called on delegates attending the 41st World Congress on Military Medicine in Bali this week to denounce the tests.
"Indonesian military medical professionals insert a finger into the anus of the woman, widen her vulva with the other hand, and then press the woman's hymen forward so that her whole hymenal ring is visualised," International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims secretary general Victor Madrigal-Borloz said in an open letter to delegates.
"This procedure may exacerbate the woman's humiliation and cause physical pain due to the addition of a rectal examination in addition to the vaginal one."
Human Rights Watch Indonesia researcher Andreas Harsono said the UK and the US had indicated they would raise the issue at the conference.
A spokesperson for Australian Surgeon-General Rear Admiral Robyn Walker did not respond to queries from Fairfax Media before deadline.
Major General Tjen told Fairfax Media virginity testing would not be discussed at the international conference because it was a domestic issue.
Last year it came to light that young female police recruits in Indonesia must also start their careers with the "two-finger test" to assess if they are virgins.
With Karuni Rompies
