A bill will be submitted for the approval of the Chamber of Deputies that will criminalize virginity testing.
The Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms and Equality Rebecca Buttigieg announced this in a news conference. She said that this law will give a clear signal against a discriminatory practice that causes trauma, humiliation and pain for women and girls. “This is abuse that amounts to sexual violence and should never be tolerated or accepted under any circumstances,” added Rebecca Buttigieg.
She explained that this test is done under the mistaken impression that one can determine if a girl has ever had sexual intercourse. The parliamentary secretary explained that generally the virginity test is imposed on women and girls in societies where women are considered the property of their father or husband and still have stereotyped ideas about sexuality. She went on to say that medically this test has no scientific basis while it violates human rights. The parliamentary secretary concluded by saying that with this law another promise of the Electoral Manifesto will be fulfilled, and Malta, like some of the European countries, will be at the forefront of having this law as recommended by agencies of the United Nations including the World Health Organization, the WHO.
