The Guardian investigation
October 2021 reporting on clinics advertising so-called virginity restoration before the ban.
Virginity Testing And Hymenoplasty
Freedom Charity · Harmful practices
Virginity testing & hymenoplasty
Virginity cannot be tested.
Virginity testing and hymenoplasty are illegal across the UK. There is no reliable examination that can prove whether a woman or girl has had vaginal intercourse, and the appearance of the hymen is not evidence of “virginity”.
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In immediate danger in the UK, call 999. Elsewhere, contact local emergency services. Do not involve relatives or community members in mediation. Current government guidance warns that doing so may expose the woman or girl to further harm. Freedom’s helpline explains UK routes to support; for help outside the UK use international services by country.
No scientific test
WHO and UK clinical guidance are clear that virginity cannot be established from an examination of the hymen.
Consent does not legalise it
The procedures are prohibited even where the woman or girl appears to request or agree to them.
Wider risk
Pressure for these procedures can be linked to forced marriage, Dishonour Abuse, sexual violence and family or community coercion.
Definitions
No test can prove virginity.
Virginity testing
For the purposes of the Health and Care Act 2022, virginity testing is examination of female genitalia, with or without consent, for the purpose or purported purpose of determining virginity. The examination can be physical or remote. A genuine medical or forensic examination carried out for another purpose is not a virginity test merely because genitalia are examined.
Hymenoplasty
Hymenoplasty is reconstruction of the hymen, with or without consent. It is not the same as clinically necessary surgery for a medical condition such as an imperforate hymen.
The hymen naturally varies in shape and elasticity. It may not bleed during first vaginal intercourse. Its appearance cannot establish sexual history.
The law
The law is clear.
The Health and Care Act 2022 made it illegal across the UK to carry out, offer, or aid and abet virginity testing or hymenoplasty. The offences have extra-territorial provisions: UK nationals and people habitually resident in the UK may be prosecuted in the relevant UK jurisdiction for conduct abroad in circumstances covered by the Act. The exact offence and territorial rules depend on the conduct and jurisdiction.
The maximum sentence is five years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. A family member who arranges, encourages or assists the prohibited procedure can potentially commit the aiding-and-abetting offence. Advertising or offering the service can also amount to an offence.
Victims themselves are not criminalised by the legislation. A woman or girl may request a procedure because she fears violence, rejection or other abuse; that request should be treated as a potential safeguarding signal, not proof that the procedure is freely chosen.
Risk indicators
What professionals may see
- a woman or girl asking for a “virginity certificate”, examination or hymen reconstruction;
- family members asking a clinic or professional to arrange a test or procedure;
- pressure connected with an engagement or marriage;
- family concern about a boyfriend or sexual activity;
- unexplained school absence or plans to travel abroad;
- anxiety, depression, withdrawal or deterioration in school or college performance;
- pain, bleeding or difficulty walking or sitting after a procedure;
- threats that a woman must bleed on her wedding night;
- coercion, surveillance, forced marriage or other HBA indicators.
This is not a checklist that proves abuse. It should prompt safe enquiry and safeguarding assessment.
What this means in practice
By profession
Police
Treat the procedures as crimes and safeguarding concerns, consider immediate protection and related offences, identify those arranging or advertising services and preserve digital, financial and travel evidence.
Social workers
Assess immediate and wider family risk, consider forced marriage and other harmful practices, protect confidentiality and never use family mediation.
Teachers & DSLs
A disclosure about family pressure, a forthcoming marriage, overseas travel or a “test” may require urgent safeguarding action. Do not contact family automatically.
Doctors & nurses
Do not perform or facilitate a prohibited test or hymenoplasty. Explain the medical facts without shaming the patient, assess immediate safety, document accurately and follow safeguarding procedures.
Pharmacists & clinics
Offering the prohibited service is itself unlawful. Staff should know how to escalate enquiries safely and preserve information relevant to safeguarding or police.
Universities
Students may disclose pressure before marriage or fear of family discovery of a relationship. Student support should recognise this as a potential safeguarding and HBA issue.
Friends
Do not try to prove whether someone has had sex or persuade them to confront their family. Help them reach specialist support.
Community leaders
Challenge the myth that virginity can be medically verified. Do not mediate a case where the family may be part of the risk.
Journalists
Do not repeat the false premise that the hymen proves virginity. Distinguish illegal procedures from legitimate medical examination.
Young people & students
If anyone is pressuring you to have a test or procedure, the pressure itself may be a safeguarding concern. You can ask a trusted professional for help without agreeing to the procedure.
MPs & policymakers
Keep the legal ban connected to safeguarding, professional awareness and public myth-busting. The absence of large prosecution numbers should not be treated as evidence that coercion has disappeared.
If someone discloses
A safer professional response
First establish whether the woman or girl can speak safely and whether there is immediate danger. Use open, non-leading questions once it is safe to do so. Explain confidentiality and its limits. Record what she says accurately. Consider whether there is risk of forced marriage, FGM, sexual abuse, family violence, self-harm or removal from the UK.
Use an independent accredited interpreter where necessary, ideally one with knowledge of HBA dynamics. Do not use a relative, family friend or influential community member as interpreter. Follow organisational safeguarding procedures and involve police or social care where required.
Prosecution and evidence
What can form a criminal case
The law covers carrying out, offering and aiding or abetting the procedures. Evidence could include advertisements, booking messages, clinic records, payment trails, communications with relatives, travel arrangements, witness accounts and medical evidence. Because the offences only came into force in 2022, prosecution data must be described carefully and should not be inflated into claims about prevalence.
The absence of a prosecution does not make a safeguarding concern less serious. The government guidance directs agencies to use existing child and adult safeguarding structures and to involve police where a crime or serious risk is identified.
Freedom’s original reporting and campaign record
The story behind the law
Aneeta Prem’s Sky News interview and the original reporting below document the public debate around these practices. The Guardian and ITV investigations date from before the 2022 ban and must not be presented as evidence that the same clinics are offering prohibited services today.
Watch the original Sky News interview ↗
Freedom’s record
What Freedom has done
Freedom campaigned publicly against virginity testing and hymenoplasty before the 2022 offences came into force. Aneeta Prem has spoken in national media about the practices and their links with coercion, harmful myths and wider Dishonour Abuse.
Freedom now connects this issue with its broader work on forced marriage, FGM, safeguarding education, professional training and harmful practices. The charity’s approach is to explain both the law and the wider risk: a request for a procedure may be the visible part of a much larger pattern of control.
FAQs
Questions people ask
Can a doctor tell whether someone is a virgin?
No. There is no scientifically valid examination that proves whether someone has had vaginal intercourse.
Is the procedure legal if the woman asks for it?
No. The law prohibits the procedures with or without consent.
Can someone be prosecuted for arranging it abroad?
Potentially yes. The legislation includes extra-territorial provisions in specified circumstances.
Is every operation involving the hymen illegal?
No. Legitimate clinical treatment for a medical condition is different from hymenoplasty as defined by the Act.
Authoritative source
About Freedom
Why Freedom Charity
Freedom Charity was co-founded in 2009 by Aneeta Prem MBE and Lord Toby Harris. Its work brings together safeguarding, education, public awareness, professional training, books, technology, campaigning and policy engagement around forced marriage, female genital mutilation and related forms of abuse.
Freedom does not replace the police, social care, the NHS, courts, the Forced Marriage Unit or legal advice. Its role is to help people recognise risk, understand the issues, find safer routes to help and strengthen prevention.