Parliament starts debate on virginity test ban

Parliament has started its second reading of a Bill banning virginity testing in Malta.

Under the new law, anyone who carries out virginity testing on the female genitalia could face up to five years in prison.

The law details virginity testing as the examination of the female genitalia, with or without consent, for the purpose of determining virginity.

The ban was one of the Labour Party’s electoral pledges in 2022, and had originally been announced last November.

In Parliament, equality parliamentary secretary Rebecca Buttigieg described virginity testing as sexual violence.

“In our country, this practice, this act, is unacceptable,” she said.

Buttigieg added that the Bill is in line with international conventions signed and ratified by Malta. She also said that the UK and France have passed similar laws.

During the debate, inclusion minister Julia Farrugia Portelli said virginity testing is not a precise or scientific practice. Nationalist MP Graziella Attard Previ said a woman’s virginity is no one else’s business, and no one has a right to evaluate a woman’s virginity.

Albert Buttigieg, also a Nationalist MP, was the only man to speak during the debate. He said men have as much of a responsibility as women in these matters, and questioned double standards on sexual purity.

“Why does a woman need to be pure while a man gets carte blanche?” he asked.

The parliamentary debate will continue over the coming sessions.