Despite explicit directives from the National Medical Commission (NMC) to eliminate unscientific and discriminatory notions of “virginity” from medical education, several forensic medicine textbooks currently in circulation for the present academic year continue to retain outdated descriptions that indirectly legitimise the discredited “virginity test,” forensic experts have warned. mid-day was the first to write on the directives from NMC.

Historically, forensic medicine textbooks described so-called “signs of virginity,” such as the condition of the hymen, labia majora and minora, fourchette, clitoris and vaginal canal. They also promoted the insertion of one or two fingers to assess vaginal laxity — commonly referred to as the “finger test” to determine whether a woman was “accustomed to sexual intercourse” or to distinguish between virginity and defloration. These practices have long been criticised for lacking any scientific basis and for violating a woman’s dignity, privacy and bodily autonomy.