Harnie Gold
Member
The UK government on monday 24, 2022, has introduced a law to criminalise "virginity repair" surgery, known as hymenoplasty.
Hymenoplasty is a cosmetic surgery to reconstruct a woman's hymen and the hymen is a small piece of skin that is at the opening of the vagina of a woman and It is lost during a woman's first sexual intercourse or in other ways other than sex which include during sports, etc.
The UK government under it's amendment to the health care bill on Monday January 24, made any procedure which attempts to reconstruct the hymen to be a criminal offence even if it is with or without the consent of the individual and "aiding or abetting" a person carrying out hymenoplasty could result in up to five years in prison and it is also a criminal offence to take a girl or a woman abroad to have the procedure done.
Minister for Care and Mental Health Gillian Keegan said the government was "committed to safeguarding vulnerable women and girls in this country".
The procedure which have been described as honour base abuse can cost up to £3,000 to have it done in clinics and other places agreed upon.
This amendment is coming after it was discovered that several pharmacies and private clinics were caring out this surgery and that so many young women were being forced into undergoing this procedure.
According to Dr Edward Morris, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, hymenoplasty can never be justified on medical grounds.
Meanwhile, the government has at July last year, criminalized virginity testing, which then, lead to the call by campaigners, including doctors and midwives calling for the ban of hymenoplasty.
According to World Health Organisation WHO, virginity testing is practised in at least 20 countries of the world.
Hymenoplasty is a cosmetic surgery to reconstruct a woman's hymen and the hymen is a small piece of skin that is at the opening of the vagina of a woman and It is lost during a woman's first sexual intercourse or in other ways other than sex which include during sports, etc.
The UK government under it's amendment to the health care bill on Monday January 24, made any procedure which attempts to reconstruct the hymen to be a criminal offence even if it is with or without the consent of the individual and "aiding or abetting" a person carrying out hymenoplasty could result in up to five years in prison and it is also a criminal offence to take a girl or a woman abroad to have the procedure done.
Minister for Care and Mental Health Gillian Keegan said the government was "committed to safeguarding vulnerable women and girls in this country".
The procedure which have been described as honour base abuse can cost up to £3,000 to have it done in clinics and other places agreed upon.
This amendment is coming after it was discovered that several pharmacies and private clinics were caring out this surgery and that so many young women were being forced into undergoing this procedure.
According to Dr Edward Morris, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, hymenoplasty can never be justified on medical grounds.
Meanwhile, the government has at July last year, criminalized virginity testing, which then, lead to the call by campaigners, including doctors and midwives calling for the ban of hymenoplasty.
According to World Health Organisation WHO, virginity testing is practised in at least 20 countries of the world.