A new report into sexual violence in New Zealand has called for more research and education around ‘virginity testing’ – and for a law to be passed to ban it.
A Helen Clark Foundation-led report into sexual violence in New Zealand has called for an end to “virginity testing”. The pseudoscientific cultural practice, in which women and girls have their genitalia inspected to determine whether they have engaged in vaginal sex, often involves coercion and results in significant mental and physical impacts for victims, the report found.
Just how frequently virginity testing is performed in New Zealand is unknown, but the report notes it’s “likely” to be occurring here. Communities and healthcare professionals interviewed for the Addressing Sexual Violence in New Zealand report have confirmed that virginity testing is requested and does occur in Aotearoa, though the data is anecdotal. It is also unclear whether this practice is performed by doctors or community members.
Virginity testing is not a practice that is explicitly illegal in New Zealand, but if tried in court, it could meet the definition of sexual assault: if performed without consent, it could be considered sexual violation under the Crimes Act, according to the report. But because it’s not a banned nor recommended practice, there are also no guidelines for doctors to follow if they are asked to carry out the procedure.
The World Health Organisation called for a global ban on virginity testing in 2018. (Image: World Health Organisation)
The report’s call for a total ban on the practice follows the drafting of Labour MP Priyanca Radhakrishnan’s member’s bill, which would add an amendment to the Crimes Act to outlaw virginity testing, and was added to the biscuit tin earlier this year. It’s a similar bill to one lodged by Labour MP Vanushi Walters towards the end of the previous parliamentary term in 2023.
Radhakrishnan’s bill, which would only be introduced to parliament if drawn randomly from the ballot or if 61 or more non-executive members indicated support for it, would also criminalise hymenoplasty surgery, a procedure that repairs a torn hymen. Like virginity testing, the practice is often undertaken to appease cultural ideas of purity.
The bill would also outlaw under-18s being sent overseas to receive this procedure, something the Helen Clark Foundation-led report notes there is anecdotal evidence of. Virginity testing and hymenoplasty are already banned in the United Kingdom and France, but are still legal in the Netherlands, where doctors can decline to perform the procedures. These practices are reportedly most common in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Labour MP and former minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan (Image: Facebook)
Currently, it is unclear how much education on hymens and virginity testing medical professionals in New Zealand receive. Those associated with the Medical Sexual Assault Clinicians Aotearoa (MEDSAC) body do receive training on hymens and the “invalidity of virginity testing”, according to the report. Few medical professionals spoken to by these researchers had received a virginity test request or witnessed one being made, while others felt they would be unequipped to respond to such a request. In one case, after an individual requested a virginity test at a hospital, practitioners decided they were unequipped to perform the practice, and didn’t know where to refer the individual.
The report draws on 2018 research from the World Health Organisation (WHO), which has called for a global ban on virginity testing and hymenoplasty. WHO’s report noted short-term impacts of these procedures typically include a loss in self-esteem, a dysfunctional sex life, bleeding and consequences ranging from demands for payment to murder if the woman/girl is found to have “failed” the test. Long-term impacts include isolation, suicide and a higher risk of experiencing sexual violence.
Image: World Health Organisation.
The report’s recommendations include medical professionals (as well as social workers, mental health practitioners and sexual violence support workers) to be educated on virginity testing, and for funding for research into the prevalence of virginity testing.
It also calls for “culturally appropriate” resources to be shared with women and families who request a virginity test, and to ensure the Ministry of Education’s sexual education curriculum includes corrections of misconceptions about virginity. The passing of Radhakrishnan’s Crimes Act (Virginity Testing) Bill is also recommended, with an amendment to include a civil court route.
Rise of pornographic deepfakes in New Zealand
Other findings in the Addressing Sexual Violence in New Zealand report include the first locally based research into the rise of pornographic deepfakes. Doctored sexual imagery, typically targeting young women, as well as those in the rainbow and disabled communities, had risen 550% between 2019 and 2023. Between 2023 and 2024, NetSafe received more than 270 reports related to deepfakes, 60 of which were submitted by schools.
The reasons why deepfake porn is created are typically tied to a desire for control, humiliation or sexual entitlement, according to the research. Women are more likely to be victimised by an ex-partner, while friends are those most likely to target men. But there remains a belief that because the images are synthetic, they can’t cause real harm, and gaps in the law have so far largely seen this type of abuse ignored in New Zealand’s courtrooms.
When the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 underwent an amendment in 2022 to include unauthorised posting of an intimate visual recording, select committee submitters called for synthesised material to be included in this definition. It wasn’t, and earlier this year one of those submitters, lawyer Aaron Hunt (who is also quoted in the report), told The Spinoff he worried it would take the death of a “blonde white female” before laws caught up.
Act MP Laura McClure presented a pornographic deepfake of herself to the House in May (Photo: Supplied)
A member’s bill drafted by Act MP Laura McClure picked out of the biscuit tin in mid October would criminalise the creation and sharing of these images, but it has yet to be read in parliament. Earlier in October, New Zealand had its first deepfake prosecution, after family members of the victim tracked down the perpetrator, a school friend who had felt rejected by her in high school when she didn’t reciprocate his romantic feelings. Three other complaints had been made against him.
Under current law, police are able to prosecute only if it can be proved that the perpetrator intended to cause harm – and, as Hunt told The Spinoff in June, the reasons for creating these images vary. Perpetrators are driven by “financial gain, a laugh, peer pressure, attention – to cause harm is often not actually the reason they’re doing it”, Hunt said. In the case of New Zealand’s first deepfake prosecution, the perpetrator reportedly admitted that causing harm was the aim.
The report recommends that McClure’s Deepfake Harm and Digital Exploitation Bill be passed, and for the government to consider regulatory reform to better protect New Zealanders from online harm.