Amnesty International on Friday called on Yemen's Houthi rebels to release model Intisar Al Hammadi and scrap plans to conduct a so-called virginity test.
Lawyers for the 20-year-old woman say the Houthis intend to subject her to the ordeal in the next few days.
The procedure usually involves someone digitally penetrating a woman without consent to determine whether her hymen is intact – an unreliable and unscientific method of determining whether a woman has had sexual intercourse.
"Yemen's Houthi de facto authorities must immediately halt all plans to subject Intisar Al Hammadi to forced virginity testing," Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said.
“She is being punished by the authorities for challenging the social norms of Yemen’s deeply patriarchal society, which entrench discrimination against women.”
Criticising the Houthi de facto authorities' "deplorable" track record of arbitrary detentions, the human rights group said there were no legal grounds to prolong Ms Al Hammadi's detention.
The Houthis arrested the model and actress at a checkpoint in Sanaa in February.
Amnesty said Houthi authorities coerced confessions on charges related to prostitution and drug offences from Ms Al Hammadi, after interrogating her while blindfolded, and physically and verbally abused her while hurling racial slurs.
Ms Al Hammadi frequently appears in photographs without a headscarf, drawing considerable backlash in conservative Yemeni society.
Born to a Yemeni father and an Ethiopian mother, Ms Al Hammadi helped support her family prior to her incarceration, including her 12-year-old brother who is disabled.
According to her lawyers, interrogators would wake her up in the middle of the night and drive her to various houses to ask if she had worked in them as a prostitute.
Amnesty also noted that in April, a gunman threatened Ms Al Hammadi's lawyer in the case.
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
Director: Kushan Nandy
Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Jatin Goswami
Three stars
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 178hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 280Nm at 1,350-4,200rpm
Transmission: seven-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: from Dh209,000
On sale: now
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
