Authorities in Pakistan’s most populous province Punjab have banned an outdated medical procedure in which rape victims are subjected to an invasive physical examination.
The move comes after critics of the “two-finger test” this year sued the government of Punjab province, home to about 110 million people, in a bid to stop the practice dating back to the time of British colonial rule.
Saturday’s ban, which takes immediate effect across Punjab, effectively preempts the ongoing court case.
Neighbouring India banned the two-finger test in 2013 and Bangladesh followed suit in 2018.
Proponents of the internal examination claim it can assess a woman’s sexual promiscuity and her “honour”, and whether she had been “habituated to sexual intercourse”.
Saturday’s ban, which takes immediate effect across Punjab, effectively preempts the ongoing court case.
Pakistan is a deeply conservative and patriarchal nation where victims of sexual abuse often are too afraid to speak out, or where police frequently fail to investigate cases seriously.
