Virginity test has been a long-standing tradition in several cultures of Nigeria to assess the virtue, honour, or social value of a woman or girl. The practice involves the physical examination of the hymen to determine whether a woman or girl has had sexual intercourse. The reliability of virginity testing has been questioned by researchers and clinicians alike. In fact, WHO, UN Human Rights, and UN Women claim the practice has no scientific merit and cannot determine past vaginal penetration, hence illegal. This article aims to discuss if virginity test is legal in Nigeria.
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Is Virginity Test Legal in Nigeria?
There is currently no law in Nigeria that expressly prohibits, bans, or criminalizes the practice of virginity testing in Nigeria. To this end, the practice of virginity testing in Nigeria is not illegal. According to UN Human Rights, UN Women, and the World Health Organization (WHO), virginity testing is an unethical practice that violates several human rights.
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What is the Position of the Law on Virginity Test in Nigeria?
As we earlier stated there are currently no laws that criminalize the practice of carrying out virginity tests in Nigeria. Also, no punishment(s) for the practice of virginity testing is contained in any written Nigerian law. Section 36(12) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria states:
Subject as otherwise provided by this Constitution a person shall not be convicted of a criminal offense unless that offense is defined and the penalty, therefore, is prescribed by a written law; and in this subsection, a written law refers to an Act of the National Assembly or a Law of a State, and subsidiary legislation or instrument under the provisions of the law.”
From the above quote, virginity testing is not a crime in Nigeria and is therefore not illegal to perform. However, there are some concerns that the practice of evaluating women’s or girls’ hymen for determining if they have had sexual intercourse is unethical.
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What is Virginity Test and the Reasons for the Practice?
Virginity test refers to the practice of inspecting the hymen and/or inserting fingers into the vagina (the ”two-finger” test) to determine if a woman or girl has ever engaged in vaginal intercourse. In case you don’t know what the hymen is, it is a ring of fleshy tissue that sits just inside the vaginal opening. It may be thin and stretchy or thick and somewhat rigid.
The process of virginity tests in Nigeria is usually conducted by a doctor, nurse, midwife, or an older woman who can be trusted to search for a hymen. During the process of the virginity test, the hymenal membrane is visually inspected for tears or the size of the opening. In some cases, the “two-finger” examination is conducted by inserting two fingers into the vagina of the woman or girl to check the level of vaginal laxity. The level of vaginal laxity is assumed to determine if the examined female has had sexual intercourse.
Now that we’ve been able to discuss how virginity tests are conducted, let’s look into the reasons why it’s practised in the first place. In Nigeria, in some cultures where this practice is the norm, there is a social expectation that girls and women shouldn’t engage in premarital sex before marriage. More times than not, the virginity test is not usually ordered by the woman or girl, but instead by their parents and/or intended spouses.
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What is the Reliability of Virginity Test?
The practice of virginity test assumes that through evaluation of a woman’s or girl’s hymen and/or vagina, it can be determined if sexual intercourse has occurred (or not). It is assumed that penile penetration results in predictable changes in the shape and appearance of the hymen.
Many researchers and clinicians, however, state that the practice of virginity tests cannot determine whether or not a woman or girl has been vaginally penetrated. Several studies claim that a torn hymen is an unreliable indicator that a female has engaged in vaginal intercourse as several other events such as exerting physical exercises can cause the hymenal membrane to tear.
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What are the Concerns Regarding Virginity Test?
Aside from researchers and health professionals claiming that virginity tests cannot truly tell whether a female has been vaginally penetrated, there are some concerns that the practice violates ethical standards. In this section of this article, we’d be considering the possible violations that could happen if a medical professional conducted a virginity test.
In the field of medicine, there exists Bioethical Principles, also known as the “Georgetown mantra”. These principles which include Respect for Autonomy, Non-maleficence, Beneficence, and Justice, guide doctors in the discharge of their duties. Here, we would see how a doctor conducting a virginity test can violate the “Georgetown mantra”.
The Non-maleficence principle of the ” Georgetown mantra” forbids doctors from causing harm to their patients. In this regard, it can be argued that since virginity test is not medical condition that requires diagnosis and treatment, and is capable of causing pain (especially the “two-finger” test) without providing any clinical benefit to the patient, doctors may refrain from conducting them.
The autonomy and informed consent principle provide that patients are required to give consent before a doctor can proceed with treatments or examinations. In the case where other parties (parents, intended spouse) request for a virginity test without the consent of the patient, if the doctor proceeds, he does so against the principle of respect for autonomy. More so, conducting a virginity test (and any genital examination) without the consent of the patient is sexual assault.
The principle of Justice of the “Georgetown mantra” is all about how social benefits and burdens should be distributed. In the case of virginity tests, which many see as gender-based oppression and discrimination, doctors may not allow their medical skills to be used to legitimize violations of human rights.
The principle of Beneficence instructs doctors to use their medical skills to bring or create benefit. Even if a medical doctor agrees to conduct a virginity examination on a patient, he can’t conclude whether the patient has ever had intercourse as a torn hymen does not determine vaginal penetration. In this case, his medical skills didn’t create the desired benefit, which is, determining whether a woman or girl has ever had intercourse.