Women are regularly being sexually abused under the pretence of ‘virginity tests’ carried out on girls accused of pre-marital sex in Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch has claimed.

Many are facing growing levels of violence and harassment in Afghanistan more than 14 years after the Islamist Taliban regime was toppled from power by a 2001 US-led invasion.

Of 53 women and girls as young as 13 accused of pre-marital sex – punishable by up to 15 years in jail – 48 were subjected to virginity exams, Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission found in a recent study.

Nearly half of them were examined more than once, often in the presence of multiple people, according to the study which was highlighted in a new HRW report on Monday.

‘These so-called virginity exams are not just demeaning –- they constitute sexual assault and are often used as evidence against women in court for the ‘crime’ of zina, or sex outside of marriage,’ said HRW researcher Heather Barr.