The
Indonesian public lambasted the National Police after Human Rights Watch
released a report that police conducted “virginity tests” on female applicants
in the police recruitment process.
Many
pointed out the injustice of the practice. They argue that it is sexist,
painful and traumatizing. They also point out that virginity is irrelevant to
whether or not an officer would be able to do her police duty. But few have
questioned yet the most dubious aspect of this harrowing practice: the validity
of the test itself.
Virginity
testing is not unique to Indonesia. Women in many countries are often required
to endure the test for reasons that often have nothing to do with the woman’s
interests. Turkey, Egypt, Morocco and Iraq, to name a few, have had their fair
share of controversial virginity testing. In one case in Turkey in the early
1990s, a student committed suicide after undergoing a virginity test instructed
by the principal of her school.
The ways
the test is done could vary from one place to another. We are now familiar with
the term “two fingers test” conducted by Indonesia’s National Police. In some
places in Iraq, the test is visual. A woman is considered a virgin when there
is no visible sign of “defect” on her hymen.
In one
particular village in Morocco, the test is somewhat more imaginative. A bride
to be is required to undergo “the egg test.” She is to lie on her back with her
legs spread out. The examiner, usually an older woman, would then crack an egg
open onto her vagina. If the egg slipped into her, she would be considered to
be no longer sexually untouched.
 |
The practice of inserting two fingers into
police recruits’ vaginas to determine their
virginity is unscientific, painful and
discriminatory, many say. (JG Photo/
Dhana Kencana) |
No matter
the method, there are two aspects often used to determine a woman’s virginity:
an intact hymen and a tight vaginal opening. Both are still widely believed to
signify virginity in women; neither is a reliable basis for such a conclusion.
Let us
start with the hymen. The hymen is a membrane in the vaginal canal. Doctors are
still in disagreement on its function. Many believe that it has simply no
particular use to the woman’s body.
If the use
of this membrane is considered a mystery, the shape of its virgin state is one
of the biggest medical myths around. Many are under the impression that a
virgin hymen resembles either one of these two things: a balloon-like membrane
covering the vaginal canal, or a ring-like flesh with a smooth edge.
Some
believe that any disturbance to the hymen will result in its tearing. Hence it
is not uncommon for girls to be advised to be careful when riding a bicycle or
for young women to avoid using a tampon for fear that they can break their
hymen.
In reality
the hymen looks more like — using the words of a doctor who frequently performs
hymen reconstruction — the petals of a flower. It has notches, folds and
clefts, even in its virgin state. It is flexible with different densities. Some
hymens are thin and some are thicker than others.
In the
event of a penetration, the hymen might be scarred. Yet, quite often, the hymen
stretches and is left undamaged.
It is then
inaccurate to think that a sexual act will always result in changes to the
hymen. There have been many cases that show women who are in possession of an
annular smooth-edged hymen can in fact have been sexually active for years.
The
opposite is also true. A virgin woman’s hymen might have a big opening and
several clefts here and there; this is the type of hymen that many incorrectly
believe to signify that a woman has experienced sexual penetrations.
This is why
sexologists, gynecologists and general practitioners alike are often reluctant
to be asked for their opinion on whether or not a woman is a virgin based on
the condition of her hymen. Doctors in the Netherlands resort to using the
following form of words when subjected to such request: “There are no
indications to suggest that the woman in question is no longer a virgin.”
Trauma to
the hymen is not easy to determine – so much so there have been studies to show
that forensic experts on cases of child sexual abuse often are not able to
discern the signs of maltreatment on the hymen of a female child. This is
especially true in cases when the child was taken to the hospital some time
after her mistreatment.
The second
aspect that is often checked is the tightness of the vagina. There is a
widespread belief that a woman who is sexually untouched has a tight vaginal
opening because of the intact hymen and that a man can discern that during
intercourse.
This is a
mistaken assumption. The tightness of the vagina is not caused by the hymen
membrane but as a result of a contracted pelvic floor muscle. The more it is
contracted, the narrower the vaginal canal is.
It is
noteworthy that when a woman is feeling anxious, particularly when it comes to
sex, she automatically tenses up her pelvic floor. Many doctors attribute this
as the reason a virgin woman is often felt to be “narrow” by her partner.
To women
who are looking to be “narrower”, doctors in the Netherlands advise them to
practice contracting their pelvic muscle. This is akin to holding it in when
nature calls but you simply cannot go yet. The tensing up of the pelvic muscle
was also what doctors prescribed to the woman who consulted them because she
would be expected to undergo “the egg test.” The woman passed the test with
flying colors.
Any type of
virginity test that relies on the observation of the hymen or of the tightness
of the vagina is inconclusive, at best, or completely invalid. The belief that
it is easier to discern the virgin state of a woman than a man is more of a
fable than a scientific fact. Unfortunately, it is a fable that is still widely
believed and practiced to subjugate women.
No-one,
neither a woman nor a man, should ever be compelled to endure such questioning,
regardless of the reliability of the exam. But it is worth pondering that as
the testing tool at hand is highly unreliable, why would anyone even dare to
entertain the imposition of such fallibility?
Sherria
Ayuandini is a Phd candidate in medical anthropology at Washington University
in St. Louis.
