Forced “virginity tests” on female detainees were ruled illegal in Egypt on Tuesday, after a court ordered an end to the practice.
Hundreds of activists were in the Cairo courtroom to hear the judge, Aly Fekry, say the army could not use the test on women held in military prisons in a case filed by Samira Ibrahim, one of seven women subjected to the test after being arrested in Tahrir Square during a protest on 9 March.
Fekry, head of the Cairo administrative court, decreed that what happened to Ibrahim and six other detainees was illegal and any similar occurrence in the future would also be considered illegal.
The court is expected to issue a further injunction against such tests and decree that the test was completely illegal, opening the door for financial compensation.
