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. 2020 Oct;75(10):670-675.

[Virginity testing and hymen examination]

[Article in French]
A Partoune  1 , V Dechamps  1 , M Berrendorf  1 , M Tezel  1 , P Boxho  1
Affiliations
  • PMID: 33030844
Free article

[Virginity testing and hymen examination]

[Article in French]
A Partoune et al. Rev Med Liege. 2020 Oct.
Free article

Abstract
in English, French

In October 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) has published a report condemning the practice of virginity testing, which are scientifically unfounded and turn out to be harmful for the women who are victims of these. In February 2019, the Belgian National Council of Physicians Order follows the WHO and has recalled that virginity testing is not justified, neither scientifically nor ethically. To complete these reports, the present article intends to provide to the clinician, whatever its speciality field, an up-to-date and practical guide explaining the nature of hymen, its clinical examination, the mechanism leading to the onset of the lesions, their description and their forensic interpretation. According to the legal and social aspects of forensic medicine, we also would like to recall the nature and the inherent dangers of virginity testing, as well as the legal framework of which the clinician must be aware of, in response to such a request from a patient.

En octobre 2018, l’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS) a publié un rapport condamnant la pratique des tests de virginité, qui n’ont pas de base scientifique et sont nuisibles pour les patientes qui en sont victimes. En février 2019, le Conseil national de l’Ordre des Médecins a suivi l’OMS en rappelant que la rédaction d’un certificat de virginité n’était justifiée ni sur le plan scientifique, ni sur le plan déontologique, ni sur le plan éthique. Afin de compléter ces rapports, le présent article a pour but de fournir au clinicien, quelle que soit sa spécialité, un guide pratique actualisé concernant la nature de l’hymen, son examen clinique, le mécanisme de survenue et la description de ses lésions et, enfin, leur interprétation médico-légale. Conformément aux aspects juridique et social de la médecine légale, nous rappellerons également la nature et les dangers inhérents à la pratique des tests de virginité, ainsi que le contexte légal dont le clinicien doit être conscient lorsqu’il est confronté à une telle demande de la part d’une patiente.

Keywords: Examination techniques; Forensic medicine; Hymen; Interpretation of injuries; Virginity testing.

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