Editing Virginity (section)

===="Proof of virginity"====
{{anchor|proof of virginity}}
{{main|Virginity test}}
[[File:Virgtests.jpg|thumb|[[World Health Organization]] poster against virginity testing]]
Despite common cultural beliefs, links between hymen state and vaginal penetration are not clear-cut. Inserting objects (including penises) into the vagina may or may not affect the [[hymen]].<ref name="couldnt"/> The state of a hymen cannot be used to [[virginity test|prove or disprove virginity]]. Penile penetration does not lead to predictable changes to female genital organs; after puberty, hymens are highly elastic and can stretch during penetration without trace of injury. Females with a confirmed history of sexual abuse involving genital penetration may have normal hymens. Young females who say they have had consensual sex mostly show no identifiable changes in the hymen. Hymens rarely [[imperforate hymen|completely cover the vagina]], hymens naturally have irregularities in width, and hymens can heal spontaneously without scarring. Visible breaks in the hymen, including complete hymenal clefts, are also common in girls and women who have never been sexually active.<ref name="couldnt">{{cite journal |last1=Mishori |first1=R |last2=Ferdowsian |first2=H |last3=Naimer |first3=K |last4=Volpellier |first4=M |last5=McHale |first5=T |title=The little tissue that couldn't - dispelling myths about the Hymen's role in determining sexual history and assault. |journal=Reproductive Health |date=3 June 2019 |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=74 |doi=10.1186/s12978-019-0731-8 |doi-access=free |pmid=31159818 |pmc=6547601 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Goodyear-Smith |first1=FA |last2=Laidlaw |first2=TM |title=Can tampon use cause hymen changes in girls who have not had sexual intercourse? A review of the literature. |journal=Forensic Science International |date=8 June 1998 |volume=94 |issue=1–2 |pages=147–53 |doi=10.1016/s0379-0738(98)00053-x |pmid=9670493 }}</ref>

Medical professionals therefore recommend against describing hymens as "intact" or "broken".<ref name="couldnt"/>

Some cultures require proof of a bride's virginity before her marriage. This has traditionally been tested by inspection for an "intact" [[hymen]],<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=http://www.studenthealth.co.uk/advice/advice.asp?adviceID=148|title=Torn hymen (virgin or not?)|publisher=Studenthealth.co.uk|date=2005-12-12|access-date=2014-04-30|df=mdy-all|archive-date=2015-05-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504135518/http://www.studenthealth.co.uk/advice/advice.asp?adviceID=148|url-status=live}}</ref> or by a "proof of blood", which refers to vaginal bleeding wrongly believed to be caused by the tearing of the hymen after the first sanctioned sexual contact.<ref name="Hymen">{{cite book|last1=Perlman|first1=Sally E.|last2=Nakajyma|first2=Steven T.|last3=Hertweck|first3=S. Paige|title=Clinical protocols in pediatric and adolescent gynecology |year=2004|publisher=Parthenon|page=131|isbn=978-1-84214-199-1}}</ref><ref name="Souter">{{Cite book|title=The London medical and physical journal, Volume 51|publisher=[[Harvard University]]|page=211|date=May 15, 2007|access-date=October 8, 2011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pj4CAAAAYAAJ&q=the+nuptial+sheets+blood+virginity&pg=PA211|archive-date=August 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823222306/https://books.google.com/books?id=Pj4CAAAAYAAJ&q=the+nuptial+sheets+blood+virginity&pg=PA211|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Kelly">{{cite book|author=Kathleen Coyne Kelly|title=Performing virginity and testing chastity in the Middle Ages. Volume 2 of Routledge research in medieval studies|publisher=[[Psychology Press]]|year=2000|access-date=October 8, 2011|page=129|isbn=978-0-415-22181-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HdF6ac5yldMC&q=the+nuptial+sheets+blood+virginity&pg=PA129}}</ref><ref name=paediatrician/> Coerced medical virginity tests are practiced in many regions of the world, but are today condemned as a form of abuse of women. According to the [[World Health Organization]] (WHO): "[[Sexual violence]] encompasses a wide range of acts including (...) violent acts against the sexual integrity of women, including female genital mutilation and ''obligatory inspections for virginity''".<ref>World Health Organization. [https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/en/summary_en.pdf World report on violence and health.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190305201126/https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/en/summary_en.pdf |date=2019-03-05 }} Geneva: World Health Organization, 2002. pp. 17.</ref>

Although it is not actually possible to determine virginity by inspection,<ref name="couldnt"/><ref name=paediatrician/> some doctors feel socially pressured into performing "[[virginity testing]]" inspections and providing "certificates of virginity". In some jurisdictions, this is illegal, and physicians are encouraged to instead provide education, guidance, social support, and where needed, physical protection. Such virginity-testing bans have been controversial; while there is a consensus that virginity cannot be scientifically and medically certified, some physicians argue that certificates, while intrinsically dishonest, protect vulnerable women from potentially life-threatening danger.<ref name=paediatrician/>

Some women undergo [[hymenorrhaphy]] (or hymenoplasty) to reshape their hymens with the intent of causing vaginal bleeding on the next intercourse.<ref name="Regain"/><ref name=paediatrician>{{Cite journal |last1=Moussaoui |first1=Dehlia |last2=Abdulcadir |first2=Jasmine |last3=Yaron |first3=Michal |date=March 2022 |title=Hymen and virginity: What every paediatrician should know |journal=Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health |volume=58 |issue=3 |pages=382–387 |doi=10.1111/jpc.15887 |issn=1034-4810 |pmc=9306936 |pmid=35000235}}</ref> Hymenorraphy is based on the false belief that all women bleed when first having vaginal intercourse; in fact, only about half bleed.<ref name=paediatrician/> In some cultures, the nuptial blood-spotted bed sheet would be displayed as proof of both consummation of marriage and that the bride had been a virgin.<ref name="Souter"/><ref name="Kelly"/> Hymens have few blood vessels and may not bleed significantly even when torn, and vaginal walls may bleed significantly when torn. Blood on the sheets on first intercourse is more likely to be due to lacerations to the vaginal wall caused by inadequate [[vaginal lubrication]] or forced penetration.<ref name="couldnt"/> A small study found that of 19 women who underwent hymenorrhaphy, 17 did not have bleeding at the next intercourse.<ref name=paediatrician/>

In Iran, Grand Ayatollah [[Sadeq Rohani|Sayyid Sadeq Rohani]] has issued a [[fatwa]] which states that a women, after undergoing hymenorrhaphy, is a virgin, and a man cannot divorce her on grounds that she was not.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/may/12/virgin-hymen-repair-iran |title=Recreating virginity in Iran |last=Afary |first=Janet |date=12 May 2009 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=26 March 2017}}</ref> Hymenorraphy is considered a form of cosmetic surgery, and is not generally accepted, taught, or regulated by the medical profession.<ref name=paediatrician/>

There is a common belief that some women are born without a hymen,<ref name=emans>Emans, S. Jean. "Physical Examination of the Child and Adolescent" (2000) in ''Evaluation of the Sexually Abused Child: A Medical Textbook and Photographic Atlas'', Second edition, Oxford University Press. 61–65</ref><ref name="McCann">McCann, J; Rosas, A. and Boos, S. (2003) "Child and adolescent sexual assaults (childhood sexual abuse)" in Payne-James, Jason; Busuttil, Anthony and Smock, William (eds). Forensic Medicine: Clinical and Pathological Aspects, Greenwich Medical Media: London, a)p.453, b)p.455 c)p.460.</ref> but some doubt has been cast on this by a recent study.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/health/12klas.html?_r=1 The Marks of Childhood or the Marks of Abuse?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701094010/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/health/12klas.html?_r=1 |date=2017-07-01 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref> It is likely that almost all women are born with a hymen, but most will not experience a measurable change during first experience of vaginal intercourse. Some medical procedures occasionally may require a woman's hymen to be opened ([[hymenotomy]]).