Cat logomenu

Somalia Jails Alleged Rape Victim

A Somali woman who accused government security forces of rape was sentenced to one year in prison on Tuesday after the court ruled that her accusation was false. A journalist who had interviewed the woman but never published a story was also sentenced to one year in prison.

The Somali court ruled that the woman had not been raped based on the testimony of a midwife who performed a “finger test.” According to the Human Rights Watch, the so-called “finger test” is “an unscientific and degrading practice that has long been discredited because it is not a credible test of whether a woman has been raped.”

As I’ve said before, that test has got to go. It’s rooted in ignorant beliefs about female anatomy held over from the days when a woman’s only worth came from her monetary value as a bona fide virgin on the marriage market.

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