Cairo: Egypt's administrative court has ordered a stop on virginity tests on girls inside military prisons, according to reports on Tuesday.
The case was filed by Samira Ebrahim, a woman who said the army forced her to undergo a virginity test in April after she was arrested during a protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
Human rights organisations say that there have been many other such tests by the military.
"The court orders that the execution of the procedure of virginity tests on girls inside military prisons be stopped," said judge Aly Fekry, head of Cairo Administrative court. Hundreds of activists inside the courtroom cheered after the ruling was read out.
In June, Amnesty International said that Egypt's military rulers had acknowledged carrying out virginity tests on female protesters.
Rape allegations
Amnesty said in a report that Major General Abdul Fattah Al Sisi, a member of the military council ruling Egypt, justified the tests as a way to protect the army from rape allegations.
The 'virginity test' allegations first surfaced after a March 9 rally in Cairo's Tahrir Square that turned violent when men in plainclothes attacked protesters and the army intervened forcefully to clear the square.
Amnesty has found 18 female detainees were forced to the tests.
