Virginity Testing in Turkey

In Turkey, the government has stepped in to try to curb the controversy over virginity testing after five girls, aged 12-16, tried to commit suicide after being ordered to have the tests performed because they came home late to their dormitories one night. Women and Family Affairs Minister Isilay Saygin tried to say that the situation was of little importance. He said, "Girls of 12 and 13 are falling pregnant. If girls commit suicide because of the virginity tests, they would have committed suicide anyway. It is not that important. We need to lay down certain conditions as a deterrent." (Associated Press, http://hr-action.org/thr/Apress-vt.html).
Virginity is seen as highly important in Muslim culture, but the tests seem to mainly occur in Turkey, where Turkish law states that the husbands are the head of the family. For a new bride, virginity is of extreme importance, symbolized by the red ribbon belt that she wears on her wedding day (Associated Press, http://generation-y.com/stories/011698/turkish.html).
In Turkey, a cross-sectional study in the form of a self-administered survey was given to forensic physicians in Turkey. 118 physicians completed the survey and the results are quite interesting. 68% believed that virginity examinations are inappropriate if there is no allegation of sexual assault, however, 45% had conducted examinations for social reasons. Most respondents (93%) believed that these exams are psychologically traumatic for the patients and 58% reported that at least half of patients undergo these exams against their will (Women's Health Information Center, http://www.ama-assn.org/special/womh/library/readroom/vol_282a/jlf90016.html).
Some of the social reasons for performing these exams are as follows: consensual sexual intercourse between minors, certification that intercourse had not taken place prior to divorce, suspicions of consensual sexual intercourse between adults or immoral behavior, forced marriage because of a failed virginity examination, no vaginal bleeding after first marital intercourse, and certification of virginity before marriage (Women's Health Information Center, http://www.ama-assn.org/special/womh/library/readroom/vol_282a/jlf90016.html).
It is interesting to note that virginity examinations violate guarantees of freedom from discrimination found in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Form of Discrimination Against Women, all of which are international human rights standards that Turkey has ratified (Women's Health Information Center, http://www.ama-assn.org/special/womh/library/readroom/vol_282a/jlf90016.html).