Why, Oh Why, do I Listen to NPR?

I listen to NPR every morning on my way to work. I love the blend of stories and news as well as the incidental music and sound effects. Don't you enjoy listening to the sounds of the wind and walking that accompany many of their stories? Even the names of their reporters are eclectic, exotic, and musical: Lakshmi Singh, Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, Andrei Codrescu, Rene Montagne, Korva Coleman and Mara Liasson, just to name a few.

But every once-in-awhile, they report a story about something I never heard of or dreamt of, and I get all steamed up. That is what happened to me this morning. The story was about virginity tests of Egyptian women who were arrested for protesting in Cairo.

To paraphrase: Seven detained women were brought into a room populated by a doctor and several inappropriate and unnecessary male soldiers. They were stripped and penetrated by some unnamed object to see if their hymens bled. The reason it was reported is that these women came forward and the case was brought before the military court which--you guessed it--found no wrong doing. The ruling  basically said it never happened. To read more, please visit: http://www.npr.org/2012/03/29/149547892/egyptian-activists-push-to-end-military-trials

Reality-check time: a test like this can be accurate. Normal physical activity,day to day living, and tampon use can break a hymen. Also, not all women are born with one. And besides being degrading, it's illegal in many countries and IS CONSIDERED A HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION BY AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL.
 
There aseems to be three main reasons the testing is done:

1.  Prevention of disease and pregnancy The logic is that if a girl has a hymen, she is not able to spread HIV or be pregnant. If you are a cynic--like me--you may see this as a way for some men to find little girls to have sex with or to sell into sex-slavery.
2.  Royal Affirmation One must be a virgin and be certified to dance before the king.
3. Immigration Until 1979, the United Kingdom still did these tests. The logic is virgins were more likely to tell the truth about why they wanted to live in the UK.

So what were these Egyptian guys looking for with the virginity test? I couldn't find the answer. Nor was I able to find out:

1. What would be done with the information? Do they receive stiffer sentencing if  there is no blood?
2. Do  the women received any documantation as to their virginal status? For example,if they were able to cause a woman to bleed, does she receive a certificate of authenticity?
3. How often can you test a girl? And will this give her a pass on any other virginity testing she may be subjected to in the future?
4.  What are the age parameters? If a girl of 12 doesn't pass, do they use the information to investigate for possible rape?

The NPR article only stated that it's a remnant of the past. Again, the cynic in me is sure it is done for some very sick and private reasons on the men's--ahem--part.

 Here are some other examples of the ways girls and women are abused:

• Rape
• Sex Trafficking
• Genital Mutilation
• Dowry Deaths
• Honor Killings
• Forced Sterilization
• Femicide (killing female babies)
• Early and forced Marriages
• Maltreatment of Widows

Please read the following for more information on violence against women:
http://www.humanrightsimpact.org/fileadmin/hria_resources/R4C/Mapping_VAW.pdf

In the USA, we don't think this happens because this all sounds extreme. However, our culture has become so inured and desensitized that we don't give it a second thought. But there are many ways a culture can abuse its girls and women.

Some timely and relevant examples that are a less exotic:

• The male dominated decision making concerning women and our "issues".
• Sexualization of little girls
• Violence against women in movies, television, games
• Verbal assaults 

So, NPR, thanks alot for bringing all this reality to me. I should have stuck with listening to my oldies station.