Avirginity test is the pseudoscientific practice and process of determining whether a woman or girl is avirgin; i.e., to determine that she has never engaged in, or been subjected to,vaginal intercourse. The test typically involves a check for the presence of an intacthymen, typically on the flawed assumption that it can only be, and will always be torn as a result of vaginal intercourse.[1] Virginity testing is most common in the Middle East, as well as theMuslim-majority regions of Africa.[2]
Virginity testing is widely considered controversial because of its implications for the tested women and girls as it is viewed asunethical,[3] and because such tests are widely considered to be unscientific. In cases of suspectedrape,child sexual abuse, or other forms ofsexual assault, a detailed examination of the hymen may be performed, but the condition of the hymen alone is often inconclusive.[4] In October 2018, theUN Human Rights Council,UN Women and theWorld Health Organization (WHO) called for the ban of virginity testing as it is a painful, humiliating and a traumatic practice that constitutesviolence against women.[5]
.jpg)
Many pre-modern societies placed great value on assessing the virginity of their girls, as is attested in sources ranging from mythology to popular literature, folklore, and official records.[6]
Prior to the advance ofanatomical knowledge in the 15th century, the nature of the hymen was not fully understood, and consequently a great variety of more or less fantastical or scientific tests were advocated for.[6] The Incas of Peru reserved their sacred "Virgins of the Sun" as brides for high status men, and when a girl was suspected of sexual activity, she was made to blow into a smouldering fire; if the fire flared up, she was deemed chaste.[7] In ancient Greece, a story related in the 5th century BC tells how the god Pan could establish the purity of any girl, as his mystical flute responded spontaneously to the presence of a virgin.[7]
The Medieval romancesFloris and Blancheflur (c. 1250) andBevis of Hampton (c. 1300) both feature virgin heroines who must prove their purity and therefore their worth.[6][a] The scenario was also acted out on the English stage, in plays such as Middleton'sThe Changeling (1622).[8]
Virginity testing is most common in the Middle East, as well as theMuslim-majority regions in Africa.[2] Their recent use in theUnited Kingdom dates back to the 1970s, after large scale immigration from these regions into the UK.[9] It is legal for doctors in theUnited States to perform virginity tests.[10]
Examinations to test for previous sexual activity used to be performed onrape victims amongstSouth Asian Muslims inBangladesh,Pakistan andIndia. It was banned in India in 2014,[11] banned in Bangladesh in 2018,[12] and banned in Pakistan in 2021.[13]
The process of virginity testing varies by region. In areas where medical doctors are available, the tests would often be given in a doctor's office.[14] However, in countries where doctors are not available, testers will often be older women, or whoever can be trusted to search for a hymen.[15] This is common amongAfrican tribes that perform the test.[16]
Another form of virginity testing involves testing for laxity of vaginal muscles with fingers (the "two-finger test"). A doctor performs the test by inserting a finger into the female's vagina to check the level of vaginal laxity, which is used to determine if she is "habituated to sexual intercourse".[17] However, the usefulness of these criteria has been questioned by medical authorities and opponents of virginity testing because vaginal laxity and the absence of a hymen can both be caused by other factors, and the "two-finger test" is based on subjective observation.[18][19]
Among theBantu peoples of Sub-Saharan Africa, virginity testing or even thesuturing of thelabia majora (calledinfibulation) has been commonplace. Traditionally, Kenuzi girls (of theSudan) are married before puberty[20] by adult men who inspect them manually for virginity.
Virginity testing drives unequal social pressures for men and women to remain virgins until they marry.[21] Virginity testing perpetuates these harmfulstereotyped beliefs through the discriminatory framework that women are primarily responsible for all sexual activity and misconduct.[21]
InIran, sixteen in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants aged 32 to 60 years to elucidate the perceptions and experiences of Iranian examiners of virginity testing.[21] The perception and experience of examiners were reflected in five main themes. The result of this study indicated that virginity testing is more than a medical examination, considering the cultural factors involved and its overt and covert consequences. In Iran, testing is performed for both formal and informal reasons, and examiners view such testing with ambiguity about the accuracy and certainty of the diagnosis and uncertainty about ethics and reproductive rights. Examiners are affected by the overt and covert consequences of virginity testing, beliefs and cultural values underlying virginity testing, and informal and formal reasons for virginity testing also used to examine sexual offence.[21]
DW in 2024 reported that Iranian regime prisons used hymen checks.[22]
Many cultures require proof of a bride's virginity prior to her marriage. This has traditionally been tested by the presence of an intacthymen, which was verified by either a physical examination (usually by a physician), who would provide a certificate of virginity or by a "proof of blood", which refers to vaginal bleeding that results from the tearing of the hymen.[23][24][25] The physical examination would normally be undertaken before the marriage ceremony, while the "proof by blood" involves an inspection for signs of bleeding as part of theconsummation of marriage, after the ceremony.
Egypt's military forces performed virginity tests on women detained during the2011 Egyptian revolution. AfterAmnesty International protested to theEgyptian government in March 2011,[26] the government claimed the tests were carried out in order to refute claims that the women had been raped while in detention. Amnesty International described the virginity tests as "nothing less than torture".[27] Virginity tests done by the military on detainees were banned in Egypt on 27 December 2011,[28] but in March 2012, the physician who carried out the tests was acquitted of all charges.[29] Samira Ibrahim, the Egyptian woman who filed the lawsuit against the government that initiated public discussion of their use of virginity testing, said in response to the physician's acquittal: "A woman's body should not be used as a tool for intimidation, and nobody should have their dignity violated."[30] However, complications at times arise in the discourse of hymen tests as abusive. This is because hymen exams, such as in the case of Maya Mikdashi's study of Lebanon inSextarianism (2022), are sometimes requested by women and family members to prove the sexual status of women (to prove if they are virgins or not, such as in matters of marriage) and by the state to use as evidence in case of abuse in criminal trials.[31]
Prior to the 1980s, virginity testing was also used on women entering theUnited Kingdom on what was popularly called a fiancée visa, when they said they wereimmigrating tomarry their fiancées who were already living in the country.[32] The British government argued that if the women were virgins, they were more likely to be telling the truth about their reason for immigrating to the country.[32] In January 1979, a woman was required by British immigration officers to undergo a virginity test when she arrived in London claiming that she was there to marry. Such a visit did not require a visa, but as proof of herbona fides, she was required to submit to the test.[33] This practice was exposed byThe Guardian in 1979[34] and the policy was quickly changed.[32][35][33]
Virginity testing in Indonesia for female applicants to the military and police has been practiced since 1965 and is carried out during medical examinations. An announcement was made in August 2013 inPrabumulih district,South Sumatra,Indonesia, by local education chief Muhammad Rasyid, that teenage girls attending high school there would be given mandatory annual virginity tests, beginning in 2014.[36] The stated intent was to reducepromiscuity in the district.[37] In 2014 theHuman Rights Watch reported that a physical virginity test is routinely performed on female candidates to theIndonesian National Police as part of the job application process.[38]
In August 2021, theIndonesian Army Chief of StaffGeneral Andika Perkasa officially announced that the army will no longer conduct virginity testing for female recruits. The navy and air force had already stopped conducting virginity tests.[39][40][41]
InIran,Atena Farghadani was charged with "illicit sexual relations falling short of adultery" for shaking hands with her lawyer in June 2015. She complained that Iranian prison officials and guards have made lewd gestures, sexual slurs and other insults to her, and went on a three-day "dry" hunger strike in September 2015 in protest of this ill-treatment. However, the harassment continued. In a note written by Farghadani leaked from prison, which has been seen by Amnesty International, Farghadani says the judicial authorities took her to a medical center outside the prison on 12 August 2015 and forced her to submit to a virginity test, purportedly for the purpose of investigating the charge against her.[42]
In India's Kanjarbhat community, after a marriage ceremony takes place, a virginity test is carried out on the newly-married wife using a white bed sheet. If the woman bleeds following intercourse with her new husband, it is declared that 'Maal khara hai' (the goods are pure) and if she does not bleed, the council will declare that 'Maal khota hai' (the goods are spoiled).[43][44] In 2019, theMaharashtra state government announced that it intended to make virginity tests for brides a punishable offence, describing the practice as form of sexual assault.[45]
Virginity tests are common inAfghanistan. Some women undergo multiple tests. The tests are often done without the woman's consent. They have drawn widespread condemnation, with critics saying they are inhumane and hurt the dignity of women.[46]
Many researchers state that a torn hymen is not a reliable indicator that a female has been vaginally penetrated because the tearing of the hymen may have been the result of some other event.[23] Furthermore, in rare cases, some women are born without hymens.[47][48]
The hymen is a ring of fleshy tissue that sits just inside the vaginal opening. Normal variations range from thin and stretchy to thick and somewhat rigid.[47][48] The only variation that typically requires medical intervention is the imperforate hymen, which either completely prevents the passage of menstrual fluid or slows it significantly. In either case, surgical intervention may be needed to allow menstrual fluid to pass or intercourse to take place at all. Another variation, theseptate hymen (a condition in which a band of tissue divides the vaginal canal in two) may also require medical intervention if it does not resolve naturally through sexual intercourse or other means. It is a misconception that the hymen always tears during first intercourse or that intercourse is required to rupture the hymen.
A female can undergo a surgical procedure, calledhymenorrhaphy or hymenoplasty, to repair or replace a torn hymen, to "pass" a virginity test.[49]
In 2003, theSupreme Court of India called TFT "hypothetical" and "opinionative". In May 2013, theSupreme Court ofIndia held that thetwo-finger test on a rape victim violates her right to privacy, and asked theDelhi government to provide better medical procedures to confirmsexual assault.[50][51] In October 2022 the Supreme Court of India strongly criticized the utilization of the "two-finger test" in rape and sexual assault cases and urged the central government to take immediate steps to cease the practice. The court emphasized that this test lacks any scientific foundation to determine the sexual history of women and instead causes further trauma to survivors. As a result, the Supreme Court ruled that anyone conducting such a test on a survivor would be consideredguilty of misconduct.[52]Most countries have scrapped it as archaic, unscientific and invasive of privacy and dignity.[53]Quebec'sCollège des Médecins has banned members from conducting virginity tests after some were found to be doing this, as well as providing virginity certificates.[54] In 2021 theLahore High Court banned the use of virginity tests in cases where women claim they were raped.[55] The UK'sRoyal College of Midwives says that virginity testing is indefensible with no medical benefit.[56] It was criminalised in the UK from 2022, along withhymenorrhaphy and offering or aiding and abetting these procedures, with theHealth and Care Act 2022.[57]
Virginity testing was performed on Indian women as part of the British immigration system in the 1970s, when there was a suspicion that an applicant might be already married. Applicants were expected to be virgins if they were not married.[9]
Preventing the spread ofHIV andteenage pregnancy are examples of reasons given by proponents of virginity testing. In 2004, aZimbabwean village chief,Naboth Makoni, stated that he would adopt a plan to enforce virginity tests as a way of protecting his people against HIV. He explained that he focuses on girls because he believes they are easier to control than boys.[58] InSouth Africa, where virginity testing is banned for girls under the age of 16, theZulu tribe believes that the practice prevents the spread of HIV and teenage pregnancy.[15] A woman interviewed by theWashington Post stated that "[Virginity testing] is important so that young girls become scared of boys. Because what happens is first the boy strips you of your virginity, and the next thing you know is you are pregnant and you have HIV."[15]
In Zulu culture, there is a tradition in which girls of a certain age can perform a dance for the king. However, only virgins are allowed to participate.[15] If a girl is tested and declared a virgin, she brings honor to her family. If a girl is found not to be a virgin, her father may have to pay a fine for "tainting" the community and the girl may be shunned from the "certified" virgins.[16] Because of the ramifications that being considered impure have for the girls and their families, virginity testing has the potential to be a life-changing event.
Material was copied from this source, which is available under aCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.Amnesty International said Monday that Egypt's military rulers have acknowledged carrying out so-called 'virginity tests' on female protesters – the first time the army has admitted to the much-criticized practice.