Genital examinations to establish virginity can now only be carried out at the request of authorities as part official procedures
Certificates attesting to a woman’s virginity, carried out at the request of individuals have been officially scrapped in Romania following a campaign by non-governmental groups.
The health and justice ministries published the order in the Official Gazette on May 2.
From now on, examinations to establish virginity can only be carried out as part of official procedures, at the request of the authorities.
The decision was taken after civil society raised the alarm about the tests which the World Health Organization calls a violation of human rights.
The campaign #UnExaminable -or #Netestat in Romanian- attracted more than 40,000 signatures on an online petition, gaining media attention and several international awards.
Until now, two types of virginity tests could legally be carried out in in Romania: those related to a criminal investigation and those carried out on request by parents – usually fathers.
In 2019, there were about 1,000 virginity tests, or 2% of all examinations in units around the country authorized by the Mina Minovici Institute of Legal Medicine.
Virginity tests are considered an intrusive procedure that can have harmful physical and psychological effects on women.
From now on, virginity certification tests for women can only be carried out under official procedures at the request of the authorities. At the same time, it will only be possible to determine a person’s sexual capacity, age, conformation or physical development, and to establish obstetric status in cases of pregnancy, widowhood, abortion, childbirth or childbirth.
In June 2022, creative agency DDB Romania, member of thegroup, in partnership with the Network for the Prevention and Combating of Violence Against Women (V.I.F.), raised the alarm about the ‘abusive and traumatic’ forensic test, young women were being subjected to.
The #UnExaminable campaign featured a video starring a teenage girl undergoing the test just before her Baccalaureate exam. In the film, the girl talks about the anxiety she is feeling ahead of her exams.
The online petition to abolish these examinations was launched in June 2022 and addressed to the justice and health ministries and the National Institute of Forensic Medicine. More than 40,000 signatures were collected, which was run on the platform of the NGO Campaniamea.Declic.ro.
Less than a week after the project was launched, the Mina Minovici Institute of Legal Medicine in Bucharest (INML) said it would no longer issue virginity certificates on request, regardless of age.
Well-known influencers in Romania gave their backing to the campaign calling for the abolition of the virginity certificate, informally known as the „two-finger exam”.
„Our aim in running the #UnExaminable campaign was to show that virginity is just a social, cultural and religious concept, reflecting gender discrimination against girls and women, but also that these tests have no medical meaning and can cause psychological damage to those who support them,” said Roxana Nita, Creative Director of DDB Romania.
