End this indignity heaped on rape victims

The Supreme Court has done well to come down heavily on the continuing subjection of rape survivors in India to the ‘two-finger test.’ A deeply regressive and offensive practice, which is an assault on a woman’s dignity, the ‘two-finger test’, also known as a ‘virginity test’, involves inserting two fingers into a woman’s vagina to determine if she has had sexual intercourse or not. In a strongly-worded ruling, the apex court has asserted that “this so-called test has no scientific basis and neither proves nor disproves allegations of rape.” This “patriarchal and sexist” practice is based on the flawed assumption that a sexually active woman cannot be raped, the court observed, stressing that whether a woman is “habituated to sexual intercourse” or “habitual to sexual intercourse” is irrelevant to determining whether she was raped. The court has said that those indulging in this “invasive and regressive” practice will be held guilty of misconduct.

Subjecting a rape survivor to a two-finger test is already forbidden in India. The Supreme Court slammed the practice in 2013. Amendments made to the Indian Evidence Act in 2013 stipulated that a victim’s character or her previous sexual experience is irrelevant to prosecutions of sexual offences. Guidelines adopted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 2014 to standardise medical examination and treatment of sexual assault survivors eliminated the two-finger test and imposed restrictions on internal vaginal examinations to those that are medically indicated. Yet, the two-finger test continues to be practiced. While the Supreme Court’s strong ruling is welcome, as previous orders and existing laws indicate, it will not by itself change things for the better on the ground. Ignorance of laws and rules is widespread in India even among medical practitioners, police, lawyers and judges. Worse, patriarchal views are deeply entrenched in our society at all levels and issues involving sexual assault see the worst version of misogyny coming to the fore. In their bid to shift the blame for rape onto the woman, the assailant, his lawyer and the criminal justice system dig into her past to cast aspersions on her character. The unscientific two-finger test comes in handy to build false evidence against her in this regard.

The two-finger test is an important reason why rape survivors are reluctant to pursue justice through the courts. It is a demeaning invasion of a woman’s privacy and a distressing reminder of the violence she suffered during the rape. This regressive practice must end. The Supreme Court ruling is a reminder that we have not done enough to eliminate the practice. It should prompt the State and civil society to act against the practice, in particular, and revisit the societal biases inherent in it, in general.