A rape victim surely and thoroughly goes through trauma after having to through such an ordeal. And the controversial ‘two finger test‘ just rubs salt to the wound.
In this free world the ‘two finger test’ or ‘virginity test’ is just completely flawed and unethical. Despite the bad reputation this procedure carries, it is still practiced on different occasions.
Recent victim that had to go through the traumatic procedure was an officer of Indian Air Force who reportedly filed a case against her colleague for raping her.
What is the ‘two finger test?’
The two finger test is a kind of procedure to check if the woman has had any sexual intercourse in the past. The test is accompanied by the testing of hymen which is a membrane or covering that partially covers the external opening of vagina.
At this point, it is also to be noted that it has been said time and time again in medical sciences that breaking of hymen isn’t correlated to sexual intercourse.
Hymen can break at any point of time and through various common means like cycling or masturbating. And in some cases, some women are not even born with a hymen.
So after all these studies and proofs, doing a ‘two finger test’ on a rape victim or less anyone is severly questionable.
General practice of the ‘two finger test’
Up until 1979, the United Kingdoms used to force this procedure on immigrant women that came to marry their finances in the country. And about that time, an Indian woman was also forced to go through the same.
She raised her voice as she felt her dignity was attacked by such practice. This made headlines and was severely criticised by the world for such immoral and unethical practice.
Immigration officers that were in-charge of such testing were also immediately suspended and such the practice ended in the UK.
During the outroar against the practice, Indian High Deputy Commissioner of that time also asked the British government to ban such practice as it was immoral and was not used anywhere else in the world.
At present times, this seems highly ironical as right now India is the country that is forcing the reputed ‘two finger test’ on rape victims to pove their claims of being raped. Which can be said a form rape in the dignity of the particular woman.
The recent ‘two finger test’ case that shook India
Recently an officer from the Indian Air Force was subjected to the ‘two finger test’ after she had accused a colleague of hers of raping her.
This case jump-started a countrywide outroar against the practice which was supposed to be banned as this ‘two finger test’ didn’t have any form of authenticity in the results and rather it is a personal attack towards the victim.
Regarding the same, National Commission for Women (NCW) said that the ordeal the victim had to go through violated a Supreme Court ruling as well as her right to privacy and dignity.
Usage of similar tests in different parts of the world
Despite being banned worldwide for being immoral and unethical, ‘two finger test’ or test similar to that still continues in some parts of the globe, excluding India.
Among the ‘Bantu’ people of the Sub-Saharan region of Africa, virginity test and even suturing of the labia majora is a common occurrence. Then in Sudan, girls from the ‘Kenuzi’ tribe are married before puberty by adult men who then subject the girls to similar tests.
What can be done to stop this ‘two finger test?’
As mentioned earlier, ‘two finger test’ is done to check the virginity by checking the hymen.
And it is also said that breaking of hymen is not correlated to sexual intercourse only. Hymen may break for any reason.
So, through these, it is sufficient to say that ‘two finger test’ is not only immoral and unethical but also completely inaccurate in nature. To stop such practices from still continuing one must be taught about the superstitions related to sexuality and female reproductive organs.
