Two-Finger Test

The Supreme Court recently stated that those who perform the "two-finger test" on alleged rape victims will be held accountable for their actions.

What is the Two-Finger Test?

• A medical practitioner will perform the two-finger test on the vagina to determine whether the women are habitual to sexual intercourse.
• The practice is unscientific and provides no conclusive information. Furthermore, such "information" has no bearing on a rape allegation.
• A woman who has been sexually assaulted is subjected to a medical examination in order to determine her health and medical needs, as well as to collect evidence.
• According to a World Health Organization (WHO) handbook on dealing with sexual assault victims, "virginity (or 'two-finger') testing has no scientific validity."

Observation of the Supreme Court:

• A Supreme Court bench stated in 2004 that "whether a woman is 'habituated to sexual intercourse' or 'habitual to sexual intercourse' is irrelevant for determining whether the ingredients of Section 375 (rape) of the IPC are present in a particular case."
• The court stated that it is patriarchal and sexist to suggest that a woman cannot be trusted when she claims she was raped simply because she is sexually active.
• The Supreme Court ruled in May 2013 that the two-finger test violates a woman's right to privacy and ordered the government to provide better medical procedures for confirming the sexual assault.
• Invoking the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights of 1966 and the United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power of 1985, the Supreme Court stated that rape survivors have the right to legal recourse that does not re-traumatize them or violate their physical or mental integrity and dignity.
• The Madras High Court ordered the state to ban the two-finger test in April 2022.

What are the Government's Guidelines?

• After the 2013 Justice Verma Committee report on amendments to criminal law for a faster trial, and enhanced punishment in sexual assault cases, the Union Health Ministry brought out detailed guidelines for the medical examination of victims of sexual assault in early 2014.
• According to the guidelines ‘two-finger test’, must not be conducted for establishing rape/sexual violence.
• The guidelines state that a rape victim’s consent (or her guardian’s, if she is minor/mentally disabled) is necessary for any medical examination. Even if consent is not provided, the victim cannot be denied medical treatment.
• However, these are guidelines and are not legally binding.

Way Forward

• The guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare should be circulated to private and government hospitals.
• Workshops for health providers should be held to prevent the test from being performed on rape survivors.
• The problem can be solved by widespread sensitization and training of both doctors and police officers.

Read Also: National Health Policy & associated Policies In India

Rhinoceros Horn Shrinkage

According to a British Ecological Society study, rhinoceroses horns may have shrunk over time.

Reasons for Horn Shrinkage

• Rhinos' horns, which are highly valued in some cultures, have long been hunted.
• The decreasing horn length across species over time, possibly due to hunting selective pressure and evolution.

Important Fact:

• Keratin, the main component of human hair and fingernails, is used to make rhino horns.

More on the Research

• The study discovered that the rate of horn length decline was highest in the critically endangered Sumatran rhino and lowest in the white rhino of Africa, which is the most common species both in the wild and in captivity.
• This observation corresponds to patterns observed in other animals, such as elephant tusk size and wild sheep horn length, which have been driven down by directional selection due to trophy hunting.

Rhinoceroses

• Rhinoceroses are large herbivorous mammals distinguished by their distinctive horned snouts.
• The term "rhinoceros" is derived from the Greek words "rhino" (nose) and "ceros" (horn).
• There are five rhino species and 11 subspecies; some have two horns, while others only have one.
• White rhinos and black rhinos can be found in the grasslands and floodplains of eastern and southern Africa.
• Greater one-horned rhinos can be found in northern India and southern Nepal's swamps and rain forests.
• Sumatran and Javan rhinos can only be found in a few areas of Malaysian and Indonesian swamps and rainforests.

Threats:

• Loss and fragmentation of habitat

• Poaching (especially for their horns and hide) (especially for their horns and hide)
• Population density reduction
• Genetic diversity is dwindling.

The five species' conservation statuses are as follows:

• Javan rhinos (Rhinoceros sondaicus) are critically endangered, as are Sumatran rhinos (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) and black rhinos (Diceros bicornis). White rhinos (Ceratotherium simum) are critically endangered.
• Greater One-Horned Rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) are endangered.

Rhinos in India

• Only the Greater One-Horned Rhino, also known as the Indian rhino, is found in India. It is the largest of the rhino species.
• Assam has the largest rhino population in India and had at least five rhino-bearing areas until the 1980s.
• It has a single black horn and a grey-brown hide with skin folds that distinguishes it.
• They primarily graze, eating almost entirely grasses as well as leaves, shrub and tree branches, fruit, and aquatic plants.

India's Conservation Efforts

• 2019 New Delhi Declaration on Asian Rhinos: India, Bhutan, Nepal, Indonesia, and Malaysia have all signed.
• The Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Climate Change's National Rhino Conservation Strategy 2019 Project will create DNA profiles of all rhinos (MoEFCC).
• Vision 2020 for Indian Rhinos.
• Every year on September 22nd, World Rhino Day is observed.

Read Also: Child Marriage Reduction in India

Gangetic River Dolphin

Dolphins have begun to return to the Ganga River as the quality of its water has improved due to the Namami Gange Programme.

Regarding the Gangetic River Dolphin

• The Ganges River dolphin was formally discovered in 1801.
• In 2009, they were designated as India's National Aquatic Animal.

About Freshwater dolphins:

• The Gangetic River dolphin is one of the world's four freshwater dolphin species.
• The other three are the baiji of China's Yangtze River, the bhulan of Pakistan's Indus River, and the boto of Latin America's Amazon River.
• Ganges river dolphins used to live in Nepal, India, and Bangladesh's Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems.
• However, the species has become extinct in most of its original distribution ranges.
• The Ganges river dolphins are found in seven Indian states: Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal.
• The Ganges River dolphins can only live in freshwater and are completely blind.
• They are frequently found alone or in small groups, and a mother and calf will usually travel together.
• Females are larger than males and have only one calf every two to three years.
• In the water, the Dolphin cannot breathe. As a mammal, it emerges every 30-120 seconds to breathe fresh air.
• Navigation and hunting are accomplished through the use of a highly developed sonar system,' which employs echolocation (ultrasonic sounds).
• Susu, Hihu, Blind dolphin, Ganga river dolphin, side swimming dolphin, and South Asian river dolphin are some of the other names for them.
• They hunt by emitting ultrasonic sounds that bounce off of fish and other prey, allowing them to visualise an image in their heads.
• The IUCN Red List classifies Ganges river dolphins as Endangered.

Environmental importance:

• They are a sign of a thriving ecosystem.
• They are the top predators in the freshwater food chain, and their presence indicates that the water is clean and that there are a variety of prey species present, such as fish, turtles, crustaceans, and so on.

Threats:

• Dam construction, barrages, irrigation projects, and fishing are all activities that are dividing and isolating Ganga river dolphin populations, significantly reducing their range.
• Poachers slaughter them for their meat, fat, and oil. They are also occasionally injured by machines in the water or become entangled in fishing nets.

Katarnia Wildlife Refuge

• It is located in the Terai of Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district, in the Upper Gangetic plain.
• It is located within the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve Lakhimpur kheri.
• It provides strategic connectivity between the Dudhwa and Kishanpur tiger habitats in India and Nepal.
• It is home to endangered species such as gharial, tiger, rhino, Gangetic dolphin, Swamp deer, Hispid hare, Bengal florican, and White-backed and Long-billed vultures.

Read Also: Tiger Reserves and Tiger Census- UPSC