Indonesian police arrest 12 transgender women and shave their heads ‘to make them men’

Police have arrested 12 transgender people in Indonesia, shaved their heads and paraded them in front of the public.

Authorities also dressed the trans women in stereotypically male clothing, in an effort “to turn them into men”.

The raid was called “operasi penyakit masyarakat,” which translates as “community sickness operation”.

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It was conducted on five salons in Aceh, where Shariah law is in effect, with both employees and customers among those detained, local news site Coconuts has reported.

Aceh is the only province in the Muslim-majority country to have Shariah law, having won this concession from the government as part of a 2005 autonomy deal.

North Aceh Regency Police Chief Ahmad Untung Surianata said the 12 trans detainees were part of a “social disease” and had been taken to police headquarters, where they would be coached “until they really become men.”

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He added that the trans people had had their heads shaved, made to dress in what the police considered men’s clothes, and forced into a series of demeaning exercises.

Untung said that “the officers also nurtured them by way of having them run for some time and telling them to chant loudly until their male voices came out.”