Do you Have a Certificate Of Virginity?

A few weeks ago, I saw a post about girls who were certified as virgins.

The girls were in a celebratory mood, smiling and laughing while taking pictures holding their certificates.

My skin crawled!!!

How can you have your daughter believe it's alright to have someone sexually assault her, in the name of doing a virginity test?

The process involves a medical doctor, community leader(who are mostly men) insert two of their fingers through the vagina of a girl.

It is sad that in some cultures girls are raised to think if they aren't virgins they aren't pure so don't deserve a husband or employment.

I was disgusted, I kept asking myself;

• What sort of culture is this?

• Why has it been upheld for generations.?

• Why do girls keep submitting themselves for this test?

• Don't boys deserve this certificates too?

Their daughters believe it's alright to test them for their virginity.

If only these girls knew their rights and understood their feelings of violations were valid, they'd never accept this.

This culture upholds virgin girls but fails to protect them from paedophiles, rapists and the likes.

Since virginity is so important to them, why haven't they worked to protect girls and women in these communities?

These traditions celebrate virgins and holds women accountable for sexual relationships with men. More like these girls have sex alone, the men are free from such responsibility.

I Henrietta Nonye Odey against any form of virginity testing because;

� It's a violation of human rights.

� It's a form of discrimination against women and girls.

� It's sexual assault.

� It's traumatic and harmful to girls. I read an Iranian girl committed suicide because her results indicated her hymen was broken. She had never performed any sexual act so she killed herself.

� It's undependable. There are virgins with broken hymens either due to the use of tampons, physical activity etc. They are different sizes of hymen, some women were born without one.

� It is WRONG!

NO GIRL should be subjected to virginity testing. For generations, these communities have been teaching girls they do not have the right to decide what happens to their bodies. This is wrong.

� It shouldn't exist in the first place.

� It MUST be abolished.

Why haven't boys and men been taught to practice abstinence before marriage?

Girls in these communities do not have sex by themselves, they do with a boy or man.

So why make it appear like the girls are responsible for all sexual activity.?

They issue certificates like it would stop all forms of sexual violence.

I'm not against virginity or being a virgin but I hate the fact that harmful cultural norms exist in our world and continue to be stereotypic against women.

No girl child needs a certificate to verify her virginity. It's an insult to the women folk.

There is an opportunity for Change Makers in the comment section.