Expresso International: British documentary denounces reconstructive surgeries of the hymen. Pressure on women to test virginity will have risen in the pandemic

Government prepares to ban the practice, but the practice is widespread in the center of the largest cities in the country, exploiting the fear that women and girls have of reprisals. World Health Organization condemns the tests as a violation of human rights.

An investigation by undercover journalists from the British channel ITV examines in detail and provides evidence of the lucrative trade of clinics across the UK that are dedicated to virginity testing and hymen reconstruction surgery . Both practices are considered a violation of human rights by the World Health Organization and activists around the world.

Journalist Sahar Zand reveals how, “in the name of honour”, UK women are forced to prove their virginity in a unique episode of the BAFTA award-winning ITV series Exposure , which will air this Monday. fair, but that already stirs the British media that had access to the material with embargo on the documentary.

PROFITABLE BUSINESS

Despite the condemnation of this practice by health workers and the attempt to make it illegal at an official level, the offer of virginity replacement continues to be a lucrative business for dozens of clinics, private hospitals and pharmacies where surgical intervention to reconstitute the hymen.

The director of the NGO Freedom, Aneeta Prem, told ITV that the number of girls and women who seek her support because they are pressured to test their virginity has increased by 40% since the confinement by covid-19 . These women "are required to be tested by family members who want them to bleed when they have sex on their wedding night - even though studies show that bleeding is not the norm", writes the newspaper "The Guardian".

“ The bride and groom's families are becoming more demanding , I know who had to present a certificate of virginity”, says Aneeta Prem to ITV.

According to The Guardian, an ITV reporter visited nine pharmacies in central London, posing as an unhappy bride because her mother-in-law demanded a virginity test, and five of them offered to do it or give the contact who would do it, and some proposed to issue a certificate.

London, Manchester and Norwich are cities where the Exposure program has found two dozen physicians currently performing hymen reconstruction surgery in more than 30 clinics and private hospitals. Prices charged range from £2000 to £3000 (approximately €2400 to €3500) .

Diana Nammi, director of women's rights organization IKWRO, told The Observer: "Doctors are exploiting women's fears and charging fortunes for this harmful practice, which often fails to bleed, putting them at risk. extremes of being abused on the basis of 'honor' or even death for 'honor'”. According to Nammi, this is the reason why a robust law that prohibits this practice is needed.