We believe that every girl and woman has the right to lead her life with dignity as a human being, to be equal to men, and to participate in economic, social, cultural, civil and political activity. Women have the right to non-discrimination, the right to privacy, the right to make decisions about their bodies, and the right to the highest attainable standard of health. This includes the right to own their reproductive choices, and the right to have access to sexual and reproductive health, as well as the widest possible range of family planning services.

The NZARH supports the Crimes (Virginity Testing Practices) Amendment Bill

Humanist organisations internationally have campaigned to end pseudoscientific, coercive practices like virginity testing. We believe that this practice violates human dignity, and is a form of gender-based violence.

The New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists condemns virginity testing as:

• Unscientific and medically baseless
• A violation of bodily autonomy and human rights
• A gender‑based form of violence

Virginity testing and hymenoplasty procedures are inherently abusive and exploitative. They reinforce misogynistic religious and cultural ideas about sex and ‘purity’, and undermine women’s equality and dignity. They can also lead to honour-based violence against women and girls who ‘fail’ the test, or refuse to undergo the procedure.

Comments on specific provisions

Definitions – 204C

We support the definitions in this Bill. We see hymenoplasty as a form of female genital mutilation (FGM), and support it being included specifically in this Bill. However, we want to ensure that legitimate medical procedures (for example, in deinfibulation or clitoral reconstruction commonly required for reversing FGM) and sexual reassignment procedures  are excluded from the offence, and are not inadvertently included in the legislation.

No defence of consent – 204D(2) 204E(5) 

We strongly support removing consent, and the belief that consent was given, as a defence. Considerable pressure is often exerted on women and girls by families and communities, particularly in religious communities, to undergo these harmful practices.

Protection of people the practice was performed on – 204D(3), 204E(6)

We strongly support the exclusion of people who have virginity testing performed on them from charges of committing an offence. This section provides adequate protection for people who are forced or coerced into these practices. In our experience of working with humanist organisations internationally, these protections from charges allow people to disclose and report when these procedures are being planned or undertaken.

Penalties and extraterritorial offences 204E(1-3)

We support the penalties of up to five years’ imprisonment for anyone involved in, or advocating for, children to undergo virginity testing. 

We support criminalisation of harmful pseudoscientific practices that violate human rights, including virginity testing and hymenoplasty.

These proposed penalties align with similar legislation in the United Kingdom, and are proportionate to the significant harms the practices perpetuate.

Recommendations and considerations

The New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists would like to see this new law supported through robust enforcement, including training of Police and Customs Services. There is a need for public education and victim‑centred support, ensuring the law is not merely symbolic but effective.