Nollywood actress, Halima Abubakar, on Thursday betrayed her poor knowledge of the female anatomy, saying she does not see anything wrong in virginity testing.
Igbere TV reports that her statement came after US rapper, T.I., provoked outrage by revealing that he forces his 18-year-old daughter to undergo an annual at the gynaecologist.
A virginity test on women typically involves a check for the presence of an intact hymen on the assumption that it can only be torn as a result of sexual intercourse.
T.I., a Grammy-winning musician, told a podcast how he escorts his daughter to the doctor’s office after each birthday to “check her hymen.”
“Usually like the day after the (birthday) party, she’s enjoying her gifts, I put a sticky note on the door: ‘Gyno. Tomorrow. 9:30,’” T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, told the presenters.
Adding her voice to the conversation, Halima tweeted that she does not see anything wrong in parents checking that their daughter is still a virgin.
Using herself as an example, the Secret Shadows actress said her father took her to different doctors “just to be sure.”
She justified her father’s action, saying he was “trying to protect his stubborn child.”
The Kano-born actress of Kogi descent pushed back at those who disagreed with her.
At an official age of 34, Halima holds a view contrary to that of the UN, WHO and other organisations that say virginity testing is a painful, humiliating and traumatic practice, constituting violence against women.
A 2018 report by UN Human Rights, UN Women and the WHO stated: “Performing this medically unnecessary and harmful test violates several human rights and ethical standards including the fundamental principle in medicine to ‘do no harm.’
”Studies have shown that a broken hymen is not proof that a woman has engaged in sex.
Instead, it may be a result of participating in some sporting activities and insertion of tampon among others.
Many women have suffered from adverse short and long-term physical, psychological and social consequences because of virginity testing.
Even with a guarded vagina, Halima needs reminding that she ended up posing for raunchy pictures at the beginning of her Nollywood career.
