Dr Oluwajimi Sodipo, a Consultant Family Physician at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, announced in Ilorin on Wednesday that virginity tests are illegal.
On the sidelines of a session for primary healthcare professionals, he told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the WHO has ruled the practice illegal.
Apart from the WHO pronouncement, he added, the practice was antiquated.
Virginity tests are performed for a variety of reasons, the most common of which being requests from parents or suitors to determine the female’s marital eligibility or work eligibility.
The WHO defines a virginity test as a gynaecological examination performed to assess if a woman or girl has had vaginal intercourse.
Sodipo stated that the WHO has issued a global call to end violence against women and girls, and that the practice is medically unnecessary.
He went on to say that the technique was frequently unpleasant, humiliating, and distressing.
He argued that the concept of virginity test was a myth, as the absence of a hymen did not mean that a female was promiscuous.
“The perception that there must be blood-stained sheets at first intercourse to indicate virginity is not always scientifically correct,’’ Dr Sodipo stressed.
In terms of gender-based violence, he noted that female victims had received greater attention since they were more vulnerable to gender-based violence.
According to new data, boys and men are increasingly becoming victims, he added.
He observed that because of stereotypes, males who had fallen prey to the threat were less willing to discuss their situation.
Dr. Sodipo recommended survivors not to remain silent about their situation, but rather to seek assistance from healthcare practitioners and other important stakeholders.
The workshop with the theme: Clinical Management of Sexual Gender-Base Violence (GBV) was organised by Stand To End Rape Initiative, an NGO.
