Finally: Maharashtra does away with finger tests on rape victims

The Maharashtra government, in a move to prevent further humiliation of rape victims has decided to do away with the finger test where doctors insert two fingers into the woman’s vagina to determine if she is a virgin. It has also issued a Government Resolution (GR) which prohibits irrelevant archaic practices like the finger test. An India Express reported that the GR states that doctors, paramedics and medical officers of the state health department would have to adhere to a new manual that details the manner in which the medical examination should be conducted. [caption id=“attachment_773807” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Image for representation only. AFP[/caption] The government will begin training doctors and paramedics at the district level on how to sensitively deal with sexual assault victims. An Outlook report  quoted the GR stating that the conventional finger test of sexual assault victims is “a degrading procedure, crude medically and scientifically irrelevant”. It also said that the doctor should not identify the victim as habituated to sexual intercourse or otherwise. And according to this report in Femina, The test has been ruled out by the WHO as an obsolete criteria for sexual assault examination. In September 2010, Human Rights Watch urged the Indian government to ban the degrading two-finger test for rape and respect the survivor’s rights to health, privacy and dignity. Following a PIL filed in the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court by Dr Ranjana Pardhi in 2010, an eight-member panel filed a report on which the GR is based. According to the manual, the purpose was to help the investigation of sexual assaults and administration of justice, reported Outlook.