Stop Shame Tests in Lebanon Police stations

By Dr. Hasan Abdessamad on July 8, 2014 • ( 4 )

Five men were dragged to a police station where a forensic doctor was called to “medically assess” their sexual orientation! The men were exposed to an anal test by inserting an egg-shaped metallic instrument in the anus to “check” if they were gay.

This is not a sad story from the 50s. This actually just happened in Lebanon in the past month.

The Lebanese Medical Association for Sexual Health (LebMASH) just came out with a position statement on this issue and stressed the following:

The Lebanese Order of Physicians (LOP) should take responsibility for the actions of one of its members and discipline the doctor involved in this scandal.
Homosexuality is a normal variation of human sexuality and therefore not a medical or psychiatric condition that requires diagnosis or treatment.
LebMASH is willing to provide LOP members with cultural competency training on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) issues.
LebMASH urges the LOP to issue an official statement, similar to those issued in July of 2013 by the Lebanese Psychiatric Society (LPS) and Lebanese Psychological Association (LPA), asserting that homosexuality is not a disease and that homosexuality is a normal variant of human sexuality.
Law enforcement agencies in Lebanon should abide by Lebanon’s commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
LebMASH calls on lawyers and judges to stop using Article 534 of the Lebanese penal code to criminalize homosexuals since the sexual act between two consenting adults of the same gender is not “against nature.”

Lebanese demonstrators hold signs against anal “tests” on men suspected of homosexuality and so-called “virginity tests” for women during a protest in Beirut on August 11, 2012 (AFP Photo / Anwar Amro)

“Shame tests” or anal and virginity tests done by forensic doctors in police stations were outlawed in 2012 after significant efforts from activist and human rights organization and with support from the media. The Lebanese Order of Physicians (LOP) declared that this archaic practice should be banned due to its clear violation of medical ethics and to the lack of any scientific ground to support its use. Simply, the test provides no data about wether a man is gay or not or wether a woman is virgin or not. It is shocking to see some forensic doctors still perform it.

Lebanese authorities sent a memo in 2012 to police stations discouraging the use of these cruel and futile tests. Apparently this remains ink on paper.

The test violates international standards against torture, including the Convention Against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Lebanon ratified in 2000. On top of all that, the victim is responsible for paying the cost of this forensic rape (125,000 LL or $85).

Lebanese demonstrator holds a sign reading “Together for the elimination of tests of shame, these tests are rape” during a protest against anal “tests” on men suspected of homosexuality and so-called “virginity tests” for women in Beirut on August 11, 2012. (AFP Photo / Anwar Amro)