LHC Outlaws ‘Two-Finger Test’ Virginity Testing For Rape Victims

How was this practice normalised?

two-finger test

After facing repeated opposition over the years, the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Justice Ayesha A Malik outlawed the ‘two-finger test’ for virginity testing in a verdict on January 4, 2021. Many Pakistani celebs are lauding the landmark move.

The ‘two-finger test’ for virginity is a practice used while examining sexual assault survivors in Pakistan. Yes, this country actually determines whether women were raped or not based on the natural elasticity of a victim’s vaginal walls. Why did this practice exists when intimate swabs, an examination for sexual trauma, and other practices of forensic value exist?


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That’s a question Justice Ayesha Malik’s verdict put an end to, declaring the practice old, illegal, discriminatory, and with no forensic value.

Although the law of Pakistan does not explicitly require virginity testing for rape victims it has been a routine practice since a long time. Many Pakistani celebs are hailing the LHC verdict to explicitly outlaw the practice.

Known feminists from the entertainment industry like Meesha Shafi and Mansha Pasha hailed the verdict.

 

As the verdict is hailed globally here’s to hoping more Pakistani women come out in support for this ruling.

https://twitter.com/BahmanZuhra/status/1346132150597386241

 

Two-Finger Test

Following the LHC ruling, virginity testing will no longer be a part of the medico-legal exam of rape victims throughout Punjab. According to the 30-page detailed

“Virginity test is ‘invasive and an infringement on the privacy of a woman to her body, … It is a humiliating practice, which is used to cast suspicion on the victim, as opposed to focusing on the accused and the incident of sexual violence,” said the ruling.


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The practice was banned by the United Nations (UN) in October 2018 but prevailed as a standard in Pakistan. According to the World Health Organization virginity testing is used to impugn the dignity of the rape survivor.

“In the evaluation of victims of rape, the examinee’s virginity has no bearing on whether or not rape occurred, nor does it predict how traumatic or severe the effects of rape will be on an individual.”