The root of the English word ‘virgin’ is virgine, an Old French word whose root form is Latin ‘virgo’ or ‘genitive virginis’. Their literal meaning is “maiden” or “virgin”. As the name suggests, a virginity test is conducted to check whether the female is a virgin (engaged in sexual intercourse) or not. This test has no scientific or clinical basis. The test is to check for an intact hymen and if it is torn then the individual has engaged or been subjected to sexual intercourse. Virginity is regarded as a valuable commodity in many cultures. Virginity testing is an age-old practice that has been documented in at least 20 countries across the world. In the past, within most societies, a woman's options for marriage were largely dependent upon her status as a virgin. Unmarried women who were not virgins found it almost impossible to find suitable marriage prospects or be accepted in society in general. In other words, premarital loss of virginity eliminated their chances of marriage. These women would be subject to shame or ostracism. In some cultures, female virginity is closely interwoven with personal or even family honour, especially those known as shame societies, in which the loss of virginity before marriage is a matter of deep shame and often led to honour killings. Women and girls are subjected and often forced, to undergo virginity testing for various reasons. These include requests from parents or potential partners to establish marriage eligibility or from employers for employment eligibility. It is mostly performed by doctors, police officers, or community leaders on women and girls to assess their virtue, honour, or social value. TESTS USED IN THE PAST TO DETERMINE VIRGINITY: • The nipple test. According to the Greek people in classical Greek times, virgins were supposed to have small, pink, and upward-pointing nipples. In their opinion, sexual intercourse gave a girl/ woman dark, large and downward-pointing nipples. • The urine test. Sometimes people in the olden times would turn to urine to determine virginity. A virgin’s urine was clear and lucid and sometimes white but “corrupted” women seemed to have muddy urine. • The bedsheet check It’s a common belief that virgin women bleed during penetrative sex which would then leave a stain on the bedsheet. Human Rights Watch considers virginity testing to be "cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment." It's all of those things, and ridiculous, and all far too deeply baked into human history. It's time to root virginity testing out.