On 23 May 2012, The Legal Agenda hosted a seminar entitled: “Tests of Shame (Homosexual tests and virginity tests)”
The year: 2012. The venue: the Protection of Public Morality Bureau (the Vice Division) at the Hobeich Police Station. Pursuant to a request from the Public Prosecutor’s office in Beirut, a forensic doctor performs a physical exam on a number of young men’s intimate parts in order to establish their sexual orientation and whether they had performed “queer” acts (i.e. homosexual relations). It is worth noting that in this case, there was no tangible evidence whatsoever proving that these young men were engaged in homosexual relations, except that one of them acted and expressed himself in a suspiciously “feminine” manner, according to one of the officers at the police station. In fact, many forensic doctors confirm that they perform such physical examinations up to three to four times per month. Forensic doctors are also assigned to perform similar examinations on women to investigate their virginity status (virginity tests) or other conduct such as “unnatural intercourse” (sodomy).
While the practice of such degrading physical examinations continues away from public knowledge, the Legal Agenda was keen on opening the debate on this issue:
- How are such examinations performed and in which cases?
- What are the implications of resorting to such methods of investigation to prove sexual behaviors?
- Are there any legal means to end this practice?
Speakers included: Dr Sami Kawas, Dr Hassan Chahrour and Mr. Nadim Houri from Human Rights Watch.