UK ordered 'virginity tests' on migrants

Researchers say newly discovered documents indicate Britain concealed how often it gave so-called "virginity tests" to female immigrants who were hoping to enter the country in the 1970s on marriage visas.

The documents were unearthed by legal researchers Marinella Marmo and Evan Smith from Australia's Flinders University. The research published today showed that the tests — meant to prove that the women coming into Britain to marry were virgins — had been administered more than 80 times.

Although the tests first drew condemnation in the late 1970s, the extent to which the practice took place was not clear until now. The Government has previously acknowledged only two virginity test cases.