March 8th, 2018
Dear Director-General, dear Dr. Tedros,
We would like to commend the World Health Organization for its
leadership on global health issues. And we would like to commend you
personally for your reform agenda working to ensuring healthy lives
and promoting well-being for all, at all ages in alignment with the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development. WHO has a strong advocacy role
to play as the evidence based normative and standard-setting global
organization providing guidance based on data, research and innovation
in achieving the highest standard of health as a fundamental right of
every human being.
We, therefore, have noted with great interest the recent study conducted
by your Department for Reproductive Health and Research on virginity
testing. The study is presented as the first systematic review of available
evidence on the medical utility of virginity testing by hymen
examination and its potential impacts on the examinee. The study
concludes that hymen examination does not accurately or reliably
predict virginity status and could cause physical, psychological and
social harms to the examinee. The report points out that a forced
virginity exam may result in severe negative effects such as anxiety,
depression, isolation from society, a dysfunctional sex life, guilt,
worsened self-respect, and fear of death. From a rights perspective, it is
a form of gender discrimination and a violation of fundamental rights.
A recent book in Denmark by Jørgen Lange Thomsen and Gry Stevens
Senderovitz correlates with the findings of the WHO study, and we
share the view, that health professionals, public officials and
community leaders must be better informed. Medical and other
textbooks and sexual education material must be updated to reflect
current knowledge based on facts. Attention to these facts must be
communicated to girls and boys as well as their parents.
The revised WHO, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNWOMEN,
UNAIDS common International technical guidance on sexuality