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Pakistan Court Officially Forbid Virginity Tests For Rape Survivors

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 Lahore High Court in Pakistan has outlawed virginity tests on sexual assault survivors. The ruling, which applies in Punjab province, will end the practice of physical checks for an intact hymen and the invasive "two-finger test".

The Lahore High Court judge, Ayesha Malik said the tests were "humiliating" and "had no forensic value".

The petition against the tests was filed in March and June 2020 by two lawyers along with activists, advocates, journalists and members of the National Assembly. 


Punjab court had banned the two-finger test and in its Monday’s judgement, the same ban has been imposed on all other virginity tests.


Activists have been asking an end to virginity tests as part of the medical evaluation in rape cases, saying they have no scientific basis.

Monday's ruling applies in Punjab but may serve as a sample for proceedings in other provincial high courts. A similar petition is currently pending in the Sindh High Court.

Sameer Khosa, a lawyer representing the petitioners in the Lahore case, told the BBC the ruling had "established very clearly that the virginity test has no forensic value in any case involving sexual violence".

Mr Khosa said he hoped the relevant authorities would "reset their procedures in the light of this ruling and say goodbye to the virginity tests forever".


The current protocols involve a two-finger test by a medical examiner that check the hymen and vaginal area of rape survivors to confirm whether or not they are virgins.  



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