The Virginity Does Not Define Me campaign:
- Challenges the false and harmful notion that virginity is in any way a measure of a girl’s or woman’s worth.
- Tackles dangerous myths around virginity.
- Calls for a ban of the harmful practices of virginity testing and hymenoplasty, which; perpetuate patriarchal and misogynistic norms, cause trauma and can trigger so-called “honour” based abuse.
“Growing up, as a little girl, I was regularly told that play-fighting, doing the splits and kicks, jumping, lifting heavy things or riding a bike could “break your womanhood”. When I was a teenager, I was told very firmly, never ever to use tampons.
I did not know exactly what virginity was, I just always thought of it as the value of my existence, and that based on this thing, my life would go one way, or the other.”
Payzee Mahmod, Survivor Activist and Campaigner at IKWRO – Women’s Rights Organisation
Virginity testing and hymenoplasty are harmful practices and an abuse of human rights
Both virginity testing and hymenoplasty are forms of “honour” based abuse. They are embedded in strict gendered rules, linked to social pressures of patriarchal norms, that wrongfully place value on perceived purity and chastity. The same person can be at risk of female genital mutilation, virginity testing, hymenoplasty and child marriage or forced marriage.
Many girls and women will be expected to demonstrate that they are virgins on the night of their wedding, by bleeding onto a white sheet when they first have sexual intercourse with their new husband. This sheet is kept by the family that she marries into, as supposed proof that she was a virgin up to the time of the marriage. A girl or woman may be judged and criticised for not being seen to bleed enough. There is no scientific merit to this false test, as around half of girls and women do not bleed when they first have sexual intercourse. These harmful practices amount to invasive, de-humanising and degrading treatment and are an abuse of human rights.
What is virginity testing?
Virginity testing, also referred as hymen, two-finger, or per vaginal examination, involves the inspection of the female genitalia and hymen. Hymens can be ruptured for many reasons other than sexual intercourse, including by the use of tampons, cervical smears, certain exercises or accidents. As hymens vary and not all bleed as a result of first penetrative sexual intercourse, it is scientifically and medically incorrect to confirm or question virginity on account of the state of the hymen. The World Health Organisation and the United Nations issued a joint statement calling for the ban of virginity testing and it has been banned in France.
Rim Mahmoud, who leads IKWRO’s Counselling team, says;
“Virginity testing is a form of sexual abuse, that results in severe psychological harm including traumatisation, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and self-worth, guilt, and suicide. Virginity Testing is an “honour” based abuse controlling tactic, as its underlying motivation is to control women’s sexuality and chastity and to protect the family’s perceived honour. Virginity testing has no scientific merit. It is associated with immediate and long-term physical, psychological, sexual and socio-economic implications.”
Payzee Mahmod, IKWRO Campaigner shares how having to prove her virginity has impacted her;
“When I was 16 and coerced into a child marriage, I was expected to prove my virginity. I felt extremely humiliated and terrified. It was so traumatic and de-humanising to be pressured into proving my apparent worth. Even now, I find my experience of virginity testing so difficult to process; it was sexual and mental abuse. It should never be allowed to happen to any woman or girl again, whether in a clinic or domestic setting; the law needs to change to prohibit virginity testing.”
A ban of virginity testing is undermined without a ban on hymenoplasty.
The two harmful practices are inextricably linked and the banning of virginity testing is compromised, unless hymenoplasty is also banned. The legal continuation of both virginity testing and hymenoplasty undermines trust in the medical profession and the absence of legislation to prohibit both, undermines confidence in the government’s commitment to women’s rights.
What is hymenoplasty?
It is a surgical procedure that attempts to recreate the hymen, a thin membrane at the lower end of the vagina of a girl or woman. It’s done by creating a tissue scar in a way that can allow bleeding to occur at the first occasion of penetrative sexual intercourse after the procedure. Other terms used for the procedure include hymen repair, virginity repair and re-virginisation (which can also include tightening the vaginal wall and altering the labia).
All procedures carried out with the purpose of making a girl or woman bleed when she next has sexual intercourse present a falsehood and perpetuate dangerous myths that hymens and bleeding can demonstrate proof of virginity and that virginity and perceived purity are a measure of a girl’s or woman’s worth.
The is no justification for hymenoplasty on any grounds and it can cause multiple harms
Hymenoplasty is largely being undertaken by the same private clinics that offer virginity testing, which are driven by profit and do not have safeguarding as their primary concern. There is no medical, physical or psychological need for a woman or girl to have an intact hymen, or to have hymenoplasty. In fact, the procedure can cause physical and psychological harms.
Rim Mahmoud, IKWRO Senior Counsellor explains;
“Hymenoplasty is associated with immediate and long-term physical, sexual, social and psychological complications. Some of these psychological harms include disempowerment, shame, low self-esteem and self-worth.
Hymenoplasty could also be used as a way to nullify the occurrence of the abuse, to hide the “shame”. This method of concealment and silencing to repudiate the fact that an abuse has taken place, has adverse psychological implications such as post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety.”
Mr. Ashfaq Khan states;
“Hymen repair surgery is a non-essential surgery which can only be justified to offer a false virginity test report. Some professionals advocate hymenoplasty for alleviation of psychological impact following domestic or sexual abuse which is also an unacceptable excuse. Those victims need psychosocial support not a fake surgery.”
Hymenoplasty is a form of and can be a trigger for “honour” based abuse
Hymenoplasty must never be seen as a safeguard against “honour” based abuse. It does not tackle the source of the danger; the potential perpetrators. Furthermore, if a girl or woman is discovered to have had hymenoplasty by those from whom she is attempting to hide not being a virgin, the risk level will escalate.
Significantly, research quoted by the Royal College of Midwives states;
“Bleeding may not occur during first coitus in over half of women with unruptured hymen and hymenoplasty cannot guarantee bleeding.”
If a girl or woman undertakes hymenoplasty because she is relying on bleeding to try to prevent “honour” based abuse and does not then bleed when she then has intercourse for the first time, she may be left vulnerable to violence.
It is imperative that if a woman or a girl is seeking hymenoplasty, that this is seen as a major red flag, that she is at risk of harm. She should be risk-assessed and where there is a life-long pattern of patriarchal abuse, with honour as motive, she may be at risk even when there is merely suspicion, or there are rumours that she has had sex outside of marriage. She must be safeguarded and be able to access support and where appropriate, refuge accommodation. She should also be offered specialist counselling to unpick any misconceptions that she holds that her worth is connected to virginity.
What needs to happen
Just as female genital mutilation, which causes significant health and psychological impacts, has rightly been banned, the equally harmful practices of virginity testing and hymenoplasty, for which there is no justification, must be banned with immediate effect.
Simultaneously to banning these harmful practices, the patriarchal and misogynistic basis that underpin them, must be challenged. Sustained funding for specialist organisations, like IKWRO, is imperative to;
- Engage the community to challenge the perception that a woman’s or girl’s worth is connected to virginity.
- Ensure Relationships and Sex education is taught to all students (with no exemptions for individuals or institutions) to challenge the perception that a woman’s or girl’s worth is connected to virginity and that students have access to support.
- Educate professionals to properly understand “honour” based abuse and best practice prevention and responses.
- Provide advice, advocacy, counselling and refuge to girls and women at risk of “honour” based abuse.
Download the Virginity Does Not Define Me campaign briefing here
Campaign Update
CAMPAIGN WIN!!! On 28th April 2022 the Health and Care Bill gained Royal Assent. Under the Health and Care Act, both harmful practices; virginity testing and hymenoplasty will be banned across all four nations in the UK, including where they are planned to take place outside of the country. We also secured a committment from government to fund an education programme to address these harmful practices.
How you can help
To ensure that all women and girls are safeguarded from virginity testing and hymenoplasty, it is vital that the change in the law is wideley known about.
- Help spread the word that the law is changing and use the hashtag #VirginityDoesNotDefineMe on social media.
- Help continue the conversation to challenge the harmful concept of ‘virginity’ by reading and sharing this blog piece.
- Contact IKWRO at training@ikwro.org.uk to arrange training for your organisation to ensure you are up to date on the change in the law and safeguarding all women and girls against virginity testing, hymenoplasty and “honour” based abuse.