Heathrow Airport Virginity Testing on South Asian Women

British High Commission, New Delhi; Heathrow Airport, London.

On 1 February 1979 the Guardian published an article by the journalist Melanie Phillips which detailed how invasive medical practices were used by immigration officials on women at Heathrow Airport to determine their virginity and, therefore, prove their status as fiancées. The Immigration Act 1971 allowed fast-tracked applications by women who were engaged to men with British citizenship, so long as they married within three months of entering the UK. However, the Home Office admitted to undertaking gynaecological testing to determine whether some women’s claims to being fiancées were true. Phillips shared the testimony of a 35-year-old Indian woman who landed at Heathrow Airport on 24 January 1979 and was subjected to the procedure, arguing that ‘the clear implication is that if a Hindu woman was found to be a virgin – which in this case she was – she would be believed to be unmarried; and that if she was found not to be a virgin she would be believed to be married’. The woman, a schoolteacher, signed a consent form to be tested since immigration officials threatened to deport her if she did not comply. She was offered £500 by the Home Office as compensation, which she refused.

There were wide-ranging political responses to the report. On 2 February 1979 former immigration minister Alex Lyons admitted that he was aware of Bangladesh immigration officials subjecting women who wanted to migrate to Britain to gynaecological examinations from 1974 onwards. On 3 February 1979 Home Secretary Merlyn Rees officially banned the use of virginity tests by immigration officials. This was in response to the outcry by politicians and activists. Prime Minister James Callaghan, for example, told the House of Commons that all MPs were ‘disturbed’ by what they read in Phillips’ article. David Lane, Chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), asked the Home Secretary to commission a comprehensive inquiry into gynaecological testing by immigration officials. On 4 April 1979, during a CRE meeting, the Home Secretary, Lane, councillor Bashir Maan, founder of the Bangladesh Women’s Association Anowara Jahan and lawyer Pranlal Seth discussed the ways in which the virginity testing cases could open wider investigations related to discrimination in immigration policy.

Activist also responded. On 15 February 1979 the Overseas Doctors’ Association issued a complaint to the General Medical Council about the practice of virginity testing on immigrant women and sought legal advice on whether the testing amounted to assault. In July 1979 women’s activist groups OWAAD and Awaz protested the scandal by arranging a sit-in at Heathrow. In 1981 the filmmaker Claudine Booth produced a satirical docudrama based on the events, depicting what it may have been like for South Asian women who were subjected to invasive testing at Heathrow Airport. The film examined the sexist and racist tropes which may have underpinned virginity testing policies, as well as the shame and fear experienced by women who were subjected to the procedure.

On 23 March 1979 Phillips reported that the government admitted to thirty-four virginity tests which took place at the British High Commission in New Delhi amongst women who stated they were the fiancées of British residents. This was in response to a request made by Labour MP Jo Richardson, who asked the Home Office for clarification about a statement made by the Indian Minister for External Affairs on the cases they had uncovered. However, a study by Evan Smith and Marinella Marmo in 2011 suggested that there were up to 143 cases of virginity testing based on Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth office papers, although the exact number will never be known.