Pakistan has finally declared that a victim’s body cannot be used to determine whether they have been raped. 

The Lahore High Court, in the case of Sadaf Aziz and others v. Federation of Pakistan and others. (2021 P Cr. L J 205) held that the two-finger test and hymen examination without medical backing are now unconstitutional. 

The two-finger test is also known as the virginity test and was used in rape or sexual assault cases to determine whether the survivor was a virgin or if they were habituated to sexual intercourse. The reasoning behind this was that a woman’s sexual history could somehow indicate whether she had been raped.

Justice Ayesha Malik authored the judgment and also pointed out the negative impact that this type of testing has had on the mental health and dignity of victims. The judgment was reported by Dawn at the time.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan followed suit in the case of Atif Zareef, etc. vs. The State (PLD 2021 SC 550, where it held that observations about whether a vagina “admits two fingers easily” or whether a hymen is ruptured have no scientific or evidentiary relevance to determining whether rape has taken place or not. The Court also questioned the main assumption which lies behind these practices, which is that women who are sexually experienced may be less credible or may be more likely to have consented........

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