Should virginity tests be illegal? California lawmaker wants to ban them

A California Democrat introduced legislation on Wednesday to ban so-called “virginity testing” on women.

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez’s Assembly Bill 1909 is in response to rapper T.I.’s November interview with Buzzfeed News, during which the entertainer said he goes with his teenage daughter to the gynecologist to make sure she’s still a virgin.

Gonzalez, D-San Diego, called the examination a “form of violence and harassment against young girls and women.”

“There is no medical reason for this examination,” Gonzalez said in a prepared press release. “It’s time for California to listen to calls from the international community and ban this traumatizing, sexist and unnecessary practice.”

The World Health Organization called for the end of the virginity tests in 2018, saying that the vaginal inspection to determine virginity is scientifically unsound and a “violation of human rights.”

“The examination can be painful, humiliating and traumatic,” the organization’s website reads. “Given that these procedures are unnecessary and potentially harmful, it is unethical for doctors or other health providers to undertake them.”

T.I. had originally told BuzzFeed that he’d ask his daughter’s doctor to make sure she was still a virgin and then return the results “expeditiously.”

“Not only have we had the conversation — we have yearly trips to the gynecologist to check her hymen,” T.I. said. “Yes, I go with her.”

The rapper then walked back his comments during an interview weeks later, saying that his comments were “sensationalized.” He also apologized to his daughter for talking about the issue publicly.

“From a place of truth, I began to embellish and exaggerate,” he said during a Red Table Talk interview. “I think that a lot of people kind of took it extremely literal.”

This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 4:28 PM with the headline "Should virginity tests be illegal? California lawmaker wants to ban them."