Virginity testing is the pseudoscientific practice of determining whether a woman or girl is a virgin, meaning that she has never engaged in or been subjected to vaginal intercourse, typically carried out by examining whether the hymen is intact on the flawed assumption that it can only tear through intercourse; the practice is most common in parts of Asia, the Middle East and Africa. It is widely regarded as controversial and unethical because it lacks scientific validity, and in October 2018 the United Nations Human Rights Council, UN Women and the World Health Organization jointly called for a complete ban on the practice, describing it as a painful, humiliating and traumatic practice that constitutes violence against women.
Facts
Jurisdiction VariationSome governments have banned virginity testing and enacted laws to criminally punish those who perform the examination, while it remains unregulated elsewhere. 1 Classification
Offense GradeMinor or Summary Offense 1 Connections
Sources
1. United Nations agencies call for ban on virginity testing (WHO)
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Some governments have banned virginity testing and enacted laws to criminally punish those who perform the examination.
Virginity test (Wikipedia)
In Group: Harmful Practices on the Body, Lead sentenceQuote, In Group: Harmful Practices on the Body, Lead sentence
A virginity test is the pseudoscientific practice and process of determining whether a woman or girl is a virgin; i.e., to determine that she has never engaged in, or been subjected to, vaginal intercourse.
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