Virginity Testing

Virginity testing has become a relatively new trend in many countries, especially those that are highly concerned with women's honor or serious diseases such as AIDS. Virginity testing is seen as a way to curb women's sexual activity before marriage and keeping them "pure" until then. There is much controversy and debate as to whether or not this infringes upon women's human rights, even if they are willing participants.
Virginity testing is done is different ways, depending upon the country. Primarily, the vagina is examined to see whether or not the girl's hymen is intact. The hymen is defined as "the thin membrane of skin that may stretch across part of the vaginal opening". An opening in the hymen allows the menstrual flow to pass out of the body. Most girls are born with a hymen, although some are born without it. There are many doctors who say that the hymen is not a good indicator of sexual virginity for several reasons:
a girl may have been born without a hymen
the hymen can easily be ruptured during normal physical activities and sport
the hymen can be stretched open by the use of tampons
Often the bed sheets from a couple's wedding night are examined to see if any blood is present on them because a virgin is supposed to bleed during her first sexual encounter. However, a woman may be a virgin and still not bleed during her first intercourse (McIntosh, http://www.saartjie.co.za/feb2000/hymen23.html)
During the Middle Ages, there were many alternate methods to testing one's virginity. One could conduct a urine test (a virgin's urine is clear and sparkling), or look at which way a woman's breasts point (a virgin's breasts point up). In Middle Age romances (where a urine test would not be at all romantic), there are many stories of magical objects used to test virginity or marital fidelity. A common object is the magic drinking horn. Women who attempted to drink from it and were not faithful to their husbands would spill the wine inside of the magic horn. During the Middle Ages people were much more interested in the question of a woman's virginity than that of a man (http://lynx.dac.neu.edu/k/kakelly/virgins/virgins.html).
Amnesty International's formal statement and position in regards to virginity testing is that "forcibly subjecting [women] to so-called 'virginity tests' is an egregious form of gender-based violence constituting torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" (http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/intcam/women/2000/apeal_turkey.html).