WUNRN

http://www.wunrn.com

 

Human Rights Watch

http://www.hrw.org/node/92724

 

INDIA - DIGNITY ON TRIAL

 

India’s Need for Sound Standards for Conducting and Interpreting Forensic Examinations of Rape Survivors

 

Download this report

 

Download summary and recommendations in Hindi

 

Dignity on Trial

September 6, 2010  

This 54-page report documents the continued use of the archaic practice and the continued reliance on the "results" by many defense counsel and courts. The practice, described in outdated medical jurisprudence textbooks used by many doctors, lawyers, and judges, involves a doctor inserting fingers in a rape victim's vagina to determine the presence or absence of the hymen and the so-called "laxity" of the vagina. These findings perpetuate false and damaging stereotypes of rape survivors as "loose" women. Defense attorneys use the findings to challenge the credibility, character, and the lack of consent of the survivors.