Human Dignity and Rights of Women in Pakistan:

The Problem of Virginity Testing

by Hassan A. Niazi

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In cases of rape in Pakistan, courts and medico-legal officers still employ virginity testing

to determine the sexual history of a rape survivor. This paper argues that the practice of virginity testing, or the 'two-finger' test as it is commonly referred to in Pakistan violates Article 14 of the Constitution of Pakistan which guarantees the protection of human dignity.

The argument will be based on the fact that the 'two-finger' test invades the privacy of women based on a procedure that has no scientific values; humiliates and degrades them in public court judgments; forces them to relive the trauma of sexual violence; legitimizes patriarchal stereotypes regarding virginity; and, leads to them being stigmatized. The paper proposes the enactment of 'rape shield' laws to exclude women's past sexual history from being raised in a trial for rape. It also proposes that the World Health Organization's guidelines regarding forensic examinations in cases of rape be implemented in Pakistan. It finally recommends that, since changing the law may not be sufficient, all textbooks that talk about gender stereotyping regarding women be phased out of the training of medico-legal officers, to make the future generations of doctors aware that virginity testing has no scientific merit and cannot determine consent.