Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether he plans to make aid to Indonesia conditional on the removal of virginity tests for women applying to the Indonesian military.

The Department for International Development does not have a traditional bilateral aid programme with poverty reduction as the main objective in Indonesia. Instead, the UK Climate Change Unit (UKCCU)’s work in Indonesia is focused on making a difference to a critical global public good – the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

So-called ‘virginity testing’ is cruel and degrading to women forced to undergo it. There is no justification for it. UK government officials have raised this issue with their counterparts in the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.