.

Chapters

0:00 Introduction




A virginity test is the practice and process of determining whether a girl or woman is a virgin; i.e., to determine that she has never engaged in, or been subjected to, sexual intercourse. The test typically involves a check for the presence of an intact hymen, typically on the flawed assumption that it can only be torn as a result of sexual intercourse.[1] It has been practiced since ancient times but its recent use in the United Kingdom dates back to 1970s.[2] It is still legal for doctors in the United States to perform virginity tests.[3]

Virginity testing is widely considered controversial, because of its implications for the tested girls and women, because it is viewed as unethical,[4] and because a number of such tests are widely considered to be unscientific. In cases of suspected rape or child sexual abuse, a detailed examination of the hymen may be performed, but the condition of the hymen alone is often inconclusive.[5]

In October 2018, the UN Human Rights, UN Women and the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that virginity testing must end as it is a painful, humiliating and traumatic practice, constituting violence against women.[6] 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.[7] However, in countries where doctors are not available, testers will often be older women, or whoever can be trusted to search for a hymen.[8] This is common among African tribes that perform the test.[9]

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".[10] 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.[11][12]

Examinations to test for previous sexual activity used to be performed on rape victims in Bangladesh, Pakistan and India before it was banned.[13][14][15]

Among the Bantu peoples of Sub-Saharan Africa, virginity testing or even the suturing of the labia majora (called infibulation) has been commonplace. Traditionally, Kenuzi girls (of the Sudan) are married before puberty[16] by adult men who inspect them manually for virginity. Virginity testing drives unequal social pressures for women and girls to remain virgins until they marry. These attitudes create a framework for men to assume control over female sexual behaviors, and has led to women's punishment, and even death. These discriminatory attitudes have led to violence against women.[17] Virginity testing perpetuates these harmful stereotyped beliefs through the discriminatory framework that women are primarily responsible for all sexual activity and misconduct.[17]

In Iran, 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.[17] 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.[17]