WUNRN
Human Rights Watch
http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/12/01/un-who-condemns-virginity-tests
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION CONDEMNS “VIRGINITY TESTS”
Degrading, Discriminatory, Unscientific Procedure Should be
Banned
Photo - Reuters
The WHO handbook upholds the widely
accepted medical view that ‘virginity tests’ are worthless. Health authorities
worldwide should end the practice of ‘virginity testing’ in all cases and
prohibit health workers from perpetuating this discriminatory and degrading
practice. Liesl Gerntholz, HRW Women’s Rights
Director
DECEMBER 2, 2014 (New York) – Governments
should immediately carry out a new United Nations World Health Organization
(WHO) recommendation to end degrading, discriminatory, and unscientific
“virginity testing” of women and girls, Human Rights Watch said.
The recommendation, included in a November 2014 WHO handbook, “Health care for women subjected to
intimate partner violence or sexual violence,” states that health workers
should never use “virginity tests.” The handbook emphasizes respect for a
woman’s rights and comfort, and makes clear that any physical exam should be
conducted only with informed consent and focused on determining the nature of
medical care required. It concludes that the invasive and degrading “virginity
test” or the “two-finger’ test” - still used in some countries to “prove”
whether a woman or girl is a virgin - has “no scientific validity.”
“The WHO handbook upholds the widely accepted medical view that ‘virginity tests’
are worthless,” said Liesl Gerntholtz, women’s rights director at
Human Rights Watch. “Health authorities worldwide should end the practice of
‘virginity testing’ in all cases and prohibit health workers from perpetuating
this discriminatory and degrading practice.”
While the WHO handbook focuses on health care after sexual violence and
domestic violence, it has broader relevance for other instances in which “virginity
testing” is used, Human Rights Watch said. These include employment
discrimination and prosecutions for consensual sex between adults outside of
marriage.
The use of “virginity testing” has been documented in a number of countries
worldwide, Human Rights Watch said. For example, in Afghanistan, authorities
routinely subject women and girls accused of “moral crimes,” such as “running away,” zina (consensual
sex outside of marriage), and attempted zina, to “virginity
tests.” Women accused of these crimes are usually fleeing violence in the home,
including forced marriage.
This unacceptable procedure may be performed two or three times on the same
woman because of bureaucratic policies or mistakes, and is sometimes also
imposed on women accused of other crimes such as robbery and assault. The
results of these “virginity tests” may carry great weight with judges,
contributing to many wrongful convictions. Rape survivors often do not report
the offense or seek assistance because of the risk that it will be conflated
with zina, which officials believe can be corroborated through
“virginity tests.”
“‘Virginity testing’ is a form of gender-based violence and discrimination,”
Gerntholtz said. “Authorities exploit this unscientific and degrading ‘test’
even though a woman’s sexual history has absolutely no bearing on whether she
is qualified for a job or determining whether she was raped.”
In the Middle East and North Africa, women can be subjected to “virginity
testing” in various circumstances, including at the behest of their families.
In late 2011, several female protesters in Egypt who
had been arrested reported that a military doctor subjected them to
“virginity testing.” An Egyptian administrative court ruled that conducting
virginity tests on women in detention was “an illegal act and a violation of
women’s rights and an assault on their dignity.” However, in March 2012, the only military doctor charged
in the “virginity tests” trial was acquitted. Despite the court ruling,
the illegal practice is still used in Egyptian detention facilities. Libyaand Jordan have also used such “tests.”
In Indonesia, the national police incorporate “virginity tests” as part of
recruitment procedures for women candidates even though senior women police
officers have objected and demanded that the test be banned. Proposals to
introduce “virginity tests” for school girls in Indonesia have also
been repeatedly raised.
In 2014, the Indian Health Ministry issued a new protocol for post-rape
medical care clarifying that health workers treating and examining rape
survivors should not conduct the two-finger test. However, the protocol has yet
to be systematically put into operation across the country.
“Virginity tests” have been
recognized internationally as a violation of human rights, particularly the
prohibition against “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” under article 7 of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and article 16
of the Convention against Torture, both of which many countries have ratified.
The UN Human Rights
Committee, the international expert body that monitors compliance with the
covenant, states in a General Comment that the aim of article 7 is “to protect
both the dignity and the physical and mental integrity of the individual.”
Article 7 relates not only to acts that cause physical pain, but also to acts
that cause mental suffering to the victim. Coerced virginity testing
compromises the dignity of women, and violates their physical and mental
integrity.
The Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and other human rights
treaties prohibit discrimination against women. “Virginity testing” constitutes
discrimination against women as it has the effect or purpose of denying women
their rights on a basis of equality with men.
“Prejudice and negative
stereotypes against women and girls are passed off as medical science by many
doctors who wrongly believe they can determine a woman’s virginity,” Gerntholtz
said. “Governments and doctors should abide by the WHO handbook to ensure that
they conduct themselves ethically, respect women’s privacy and dignity, and
take steps to educate their peers to end the scourge of ‘virginity testing.’”