Two female New York lawmakers have introduced a bill to ban the performance or supervision of “virginity tests”, following T.I.’s confession that he takes his 18-year-old daughter Deyjah Harris to the gynecologist to “check her hymen”.

According to PageSix, Sen. Roxanne Persaud (D-Brooklyn) and Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages (D-Nassau), introduced the new legislation that would ban doctors from performing “virginity examinations” which they termed as abusive.

“These examinations are not only a violation of women’s and girls’ human rights, but in cases of rape, can cause additional pain and mimic the original act of sexual violence, leading to re-experience, re-traumatization and re-victimization,” wrote the two in the memo for the bill.

In an interview with the New York Post, Solages described the practice as “misogynistic” and “appalling”:

“I was horrified to see this was happening. If a celebrity can impose his power to ensure his 18-year-old daughter gets checked, imagine what can be done in households across New York state?”

T.I. suffered social media outrage after he revealed on Ladies Like Us podcast that he takes his daughter on an annual trip to the gynecologist to check her hymen.

The rapper said:

“Not only have we had the conversation, we have yearly trips to the gynecologist to check her hymen.”

“Yes, Yes I go with her. I go with her. So it’s this one time we go, I think this might have been after her 16th birthday. This is what we do… Usually, like the day after the [birthday] party, she’s enjoying her gifts. I put a sticky note on the door: ‘Gyno. Tomorrow. 9:30.’ “

T.I. and his wife Tameka “Tiny” Harris later appeared on Red Table Talk where the rapper cleared the air on his controversial statement:

“Firstly, I came to clear up any misconceptions that have been surrounding how we interact and parent and what is appropriate and inappropriate.

“I think all of this surrounds a conversation that I was having in a very joking manner when asked how do I deal with parenting in this day and age. And so I just began to—you know, from a place of truth, I began to embellish and exaggerate. And I think that a lot of people kind of like, took it extremely literal. Because if you put any of my reputations by like who I am as a father and who I’ve been, I honestly thought people knew me better than that.” (Guardian Life)

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