MUMBAI, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- India's government, which is reforming its sexual violence laws, should ban the unscientific, degrading "finger test" on rape victims, Human Rights Watch said.
In a report released Monday, the organization said the continued use of the archaic practice, and reliance on the results by many defense lawyers and courts, perpetuates false, damaging stereotypes of rape survivors as "loose" women.
The procedure, described in outdated medical jurisprudence textbooks, involves a doctor inserting fingers in a rape victim's vagina to determine the presence or absence of the hymen and the so-called "laxity" of the vagina. Defense attorneys use the findings to challenge the credibility and character of the survivors.
"This test is yet another assault on a rape survivor, placing her at risk of further humiliation," said Aruna Kashyap, women's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The Indian government should heed demands of Indian activists to abolish this degrading and useless practice".
UPI
