The Causes and Consequences of Girls' Virginity Examination in Iranian Midwives' Perspective
akhlāq-i pizishkī i.e., Medical Ethics,
Vol. 17 No. 48 (1402),
21 August 2023
,
Page 1-14
https://doi.org/10.22037/mej.v17i48.44430
Abstract
Background and Aim: As a medical procedure, hymen examination is influenced by various cultural and social factors. This study was conducted with the aim of determining the reasons and consequences of girls' virginity examination from the perspective of midwives.
Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 210 employed midwives in Tabriz in the year 2021. Sampling method was simple random sampling. Data on the reasons and consequences of virginity examination from the perspective of midwives were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 21 software and descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, independent t-test and one-way ANOVA tests, with p<0.05 considered significant.
Ethical Considerations: Ethical principles in the present study included: clarifying the research objectives to participants, obtaining written informed consent, maintaining privacy and data confidentiality, providing the opportunity to leave the research at any study satge.
Results: 56.2% of midwives believed that hymen examination has no therapeutic value and should not be performed. The majority (81.9%) agreed to perform virginity examination for the purpose of investigating sexual abuse and exploitation. 62% of individuals opposed virginity examination for issuing virginity certificates to girls before marriage. The majority (86.1%) believed that virginity examination is a violation of privacy and causes physical discomfort (74.7%), mental distress (86.1%), exacerbation of gender inequality (75.7%) and increase in physical and verbal violence (62.9%) and honor killings (55.8%). There were statistically significant associations between the causes for midwives' willingness to perform or not perform virginity examinations and ethnicity (P=0.018), personal history of virginity examination (P<0.001) and place of employment (P=0.003). Additionally, there were statistically significant associations between the consequences of virginity examinations and the level of education (P=0.038), ethnicity (P=0.037), place of residence (P<0.001), place of employment (P=0.013) and the number of virginity examinations performed by midwives (P=0.022).
Conclusion: The study reveals that most midwives view hymen examinations as significant violations of women's rights and sources of physical and mental stress. Consequently, midwives, as key members of health care providers, can be instrumental in raising awareness, providing education and promoting cultural change. They can help dispel false beliefs, respect human dignity and privacy and shift the focus from the issue of virginity to other human aspects
- Midwife
- Virginity Test
- Ethical Consequences
- Violence
- Hymen
How to Cite
References
Cinthio H. You go home and tell that to my dad! conflicting claims and understandings on hymen and virginity. Sexuality & Culture. 2015; 19(1): 172-189.
Benbrahim Z, El Mekkaoui A, Lahmidani N, Ismaili Z, Mellas N. Gastric cancer: An epidemiological overview. Epidemiology (Sunnyvale). 2017; 7(2): 1-5.
Mulumeoderhwa M. Virginity requirement versus sexually-active young people: What girls and boys think about virginity in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 2018; 47: 565-575.
Zahedi R, Nasiri N, Zeinali M, Noroozi A, Hajebi A, Haghdoost AA, et al. The prevalence and associated factors of extra/pre-marital sexual behaviors among university students in Kerman, Iran. International Journal of High Risk Behaviors and Addiction. 2019; 8(1): 1-9.
Robatjazi M, Simbar M, Nahidi F, Gharehdaghi J, Emamhadi M, Vedadhir AA, et al. Virginity testing beyond a medical examination. Global Journal of Health Science. 2016; 8(7): 152-164.
Naghizadeh S, Maasoumi R, Khalajabadi-Farahani F, Mirghafourvand M. Development of strategies to promote healthy sexuality based on Iranian girls perspective about the role of virginity in the construction of their sexuality: An explanatory sequential mixed method study protocol. Reproductive Health. 2022; 19(51): 1-9.
Leclerc‐Madlala S. Virginity testing: Managing sexuality in a maturing HIV/AIDS epidemic. Medical anthropology quarterly. 2001; 15(4): 533-552.
Amy JJ. Certificates of virginity and reconstruction of the hymen. The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care. 2008; 13(2): 111-113.
Bekker MH, Rademakers J, Mouthaan I, De Neef M, Huisman WM, Van Zandvoort H, et al. Reconstructing hymens or constructing sexual inequality? Service provision to Islamic young women coping with the demand to be a virgin. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. 1996; 6(5): 329-334.
Helgesson G, Lynöe N. Should physicians fake diagnoses to help their patients? Journal of Medical Ethics. 2008; 34(3): 133-136.
Behrens KG. Why physicians ought not to perform virginity tests. Journal of Medical Ethics. 2015; 41(8): 691-695.
Landor AM, Simons LG. Why virginity pledges succeed or fail: The moderating effect of religious commitment versus religious participation. Journal of Child and Family Studies. 2014; 23: 1102-1113.
Mkasi L, Rafudeen A. Debating virginity-testing cultural practices in South Africa: A Taylorian reflection. Journal for the Study of Religion. 2016; 29(2): 118-133.
Hegazy AA, Al-Rukban MO. Hymen: Facts and conceptions. The Health. 2012; 3(4): 109-115.
Robatjazi M, Simbar M, Nahidi F, Gharehdaghi J, Emamhadi M, Vedadhir A, et al. Virginity and virginity testing: Then and now. International Journal of Medical Toxicology and Forensic Medicine. 2016; 6(1): 36-43.
Christianson M, Eriksson C. A girl thing: perceptions concerning the word "hymen" among young Swedish women and men. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health. 2011; 56(2): 167-172.
Olson RM, García-Moreno C. Virginity testing: A systematic review. Reproductive Health. 2017; 14: 1-10.
Simbar M, Ramezani Tehrani F, Hashemi Z. The needs of reproductive health of the university students. J Qazvin Univ Med Sci. 2003; 7(4): 5-13.
Sprecher S, Treger S, Sakaluk JK. Premarital sexual standards and sociosexuality: Gender, ethnicity and cohort differences. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 2013; 42: 1395-1405.
Mehrolhassani MH, Yazdi-Feyzabadi V, Mirzaei S, Zolala F, Haghdoost AA, Oroomiei N. The concept of virginity from the perspective of Iranian adolescents: A qualitative study. BMC Public Health. 2020; 20: 1-8.
Honarvar B, Salehi F, Barfi R, Asadi Z, Honarvar H, Odoomi N, et al. Attitudes toward and experience of singles with premarital sex: A population-based study in Shiraz, southern Iran. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 2016; 45: 395-402.
Naghizadeh S, Robatjazi M, Abbasi M, Mohammadi A. Midwives’ Views on Virginity Testing: A Cross-sectional Study. Journal of Holistic Nursing And Midwifery. 2023; 33(3): 203-213.
Gursoy E, Vural G. Nurses' and midwives' views on approaches to hymen examination. Nursing Ethics. 2003; 10(5): 485-496.
Leye E, Ogbe E, Heyerick M. Doing hymen reconstruction: An analysis of perceptions and experiences of Flemish gynaecologists. BMC Women's Health. 2018; 18: 1-7.
Zeyneloglu S, Kisa S, Yilmaz D. Turkish nursing students' knowledge and perceptions regarding virginity. Nurse education Today. 2013; 33(2): 110-115.
Simbar M, Rahmanian F, Ramezani Tehrani F. Explaining the experiences and perceptions of gynecologists and midwives about virginity examination and it’s outcomes: A qualitative Study. The Iranian Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Infertility. 2015; 18(173): 1-22. [Persian]
Ebadi A, Zarshenas L, Rakhshan M, Zareiyan A, Sharifnia S, Mojahedi M. Principles of scale development in health science. 3rd ed. Tehran: Jame-e Negar; 2017. Chapter.7 p.149-151. [Persian]
Rahmani A, Merghati-Khoei E, Moghadam-Banaem L, Hajizadeh E, Hamdieh M, Montazeri A. Development and psychometric evaluation of the Premarital Sexual Behavior Assessment Scale for Young Women (PSAS-YW): An exploratory mixed method study. Reproductive Health. 2014; 11: 1-7.
Manalastas EJ, David CC. Valuation of Women's Virginity in the Philippines. Asian Women. 2018; 34(1): 23-48.
Christianson M, Eriksson C. Promoting women's human rights: A qualitative analysis of midwives’ perceptions about virginity control and hymen ‘reconstruction’. The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care. 2015; 20(3): 181-192.
Christianson M, Eriksson C. Acts of violence: virginity control and hymen (re) construction. British Journal of Midwifery. 2014; 22(5): 344-352.
Kortman E. Holy Hymen, the Might of a Small Membrane-Experiencers’ Views About Virginity Testing. Master's Thesis. Laurea: Laurea University of Applied Sciences; 2023.
Independent Forensic Expert Group. Statement on virginity testing. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine. 2015; 33: 121-124.
- Abstract Viewed: 387 times