MORE troubling evidence of the spread of Islamic fundamentalism in the UK comes in the form of an increasing number of hymen replacement procedures performed on Muslim women prior to their marriages.
According to this report, half hour hymenoplasty procedures can cost up to £4,000 if carried out at a private clinic, but some are performed by the NHS. There were 116 hymen replacement operations carried out on the NHS between 2005 and 2009. The total for 2009 was 30, up 25 per cent from 24 in 2005.
Two ads for hymen replacement surgery in Pakistan
One Harley Street clinic said that demand for its half-hour procedure had tripled in recent months.
Doctors say patients are under pressure from future husbands or relatives who insist that they should be virgins on their wedding night.
Critics, including moderate Muslim groups, have condemned the trend as a sign of the spread of Islamic fundamentalism in the West.
During the hymenoplasty procedure – viewed by some as invasive and degrading – the hymen is stitched or reconstructed so that it will tear again and bleed on the woman’s wedding night.
In some cases, the vaginal lining can be used to create a false hymen. A blood capsule can then be inserted into the lining to ensure realistic blood flow when the membrane is broken.
Consultant gynaecologist Dr Magdy Hend performs hymenoplasty under local anaesthetic at his Regency Clinic on Harley Street. He charges £1,850 for the half-hour procedure and says that most of his clients are Muslim women.
He said:
In the past, we would do one or two hymen reconstruction operations a week. Sometimes now, we get two or three women a day. Demand has tripled. Our Muslim clients worry about having had sex, and their fiance and family knowing that they have been touched before. It is more cultural rather than religious. If the bride is not a virgin and does not bleed on the wedding night, it is a big shame on the family. There have been honour killings in extreme cases.
Imam Dr Taj Hargey, chairman of the Muslim Educational Centre in Oxford, called on the Muslim community to try to reverse the trend.
The situation is very common in the Middle East where there is a huge scandal that can lead to divorce or even honour killings if there are not bloodstained bed sheets after the wedding night. It is very disappointing that Muslim women in this country feel they need to lead a double life, resorting to subterfuge surgery.
That is not conducive to either their psychological or spiritual health and it is hypocrisy and double standards because Muslim men are doing as they please with women.
There have been calls for a ban on NHS surgeons carrying out the operations for women wanting to marry as virgins.
But a Department of Health spokesman insisted that hymen repair operations take place on the NHS only to ensure a patient’s physical or psychological health.
The NHS does not fund hymen repair operations for cultural reasons. All operations on the NHS are on the basis of clinical need. Operations to repair the hymen are only carried out exceptionally to secure physical or psychological health.
An increasing number of hymen-replacement operations are taking place in France too. In 2007 Professor Jacques Lansac, President of The National College of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians of France, was quoted in this report as saying that, for many doctors, re-sewing the hymen goes against their ideals of sexual freedom and personal liberty.
The surgery is an attack on women’s dignity. We will not take part in a market that places value on the quality of a woman – if she’s good or not. It is an attack on women’s liberty.
Hat tip: BarrieJohn
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
July 30th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
Another example of religion embracing ignorance, although in another form (ignorance of sexual experience), and placing some sort of value on it.
July 30th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
Are we barking up the wrong tree here? Is this a cultural thing amongst people who just happen to be muslim?
I have this image of the newlywed’s families cheering in the street below their bedroom window as the groom leans out waving his bloody “trophy sheet”.
July 30th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
Broadsword. I expect it is a bit of both culture and religion, although for muzzies the two are very similar. However, this sort of degrading surgery, that is only performed to satisfy the vanity of a bunch of insecure men, should be outlawed.
July 30th, 2010 at 10:09 pm
@Angela_K
If the bride was a pseudo-virgin she’d have to pretend to be crap in bed as she wriggled under her, no doubt experienced, husband.
The insecurity you mention is particularly strong in muzzies. I read somewhere that they believed a woman retained sperm throughout her life. Therefore any offspring may not necessarily be her husband’s were she not a virgin on her wedding day. Science tells us the tadpoles in man-milk survive only a couple of days in the honeypot yet they cling to dogma as religiots do.
July 30th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
I dispair with my gender sometimes, I don’t care what religion or cultural imperatives they’re acting under where the hell’s their self esteem?
July 31st, 2010 at 12:10 am
I wonder if the husband can sue his wife with “rape by deception” if he ever finds out he’s been lied to about his wife virginity.
July 31st, 2010 at 1:27 am
£1,850 for half an hour’s work, sometimes two or three times a day. That’s a nice little earner Dr Hend has. Just a few hours into the marriage and the wife is already ‘faking it’ then. What does the husband do if he has also really had sex before but is required to be a ‘virgin’? Take longer than necessary to put a condom on (if such unnatural things are permitted) and feign awkwardness at first penetration attempts?
July 31st, 2010 at 1:56 am
I’m going to use SCIENCE to make me into a fake virgin for my wedding night. Not because I fear the hell of religion, but because the beloved that is marrying me is a brainless moron that will help stone me to death if I don’t feel & bleed properly.
Islam the religion of peace and love. RRrrright!
It must be terrifying to be a woman in that society what will force her into that expensive & painful operation. And they are controlled to the point it is nearly impossible to run away.
Its illegal in england and america to treat your dog that badly.
July 31st, 2010 at 3:50 am
That’s a valid point, Stuart.
In the Muslim tradition, male virginity is supposed to be an issue, also. But, as all religion is misogynistic, it’s always the onus of the woman to be pure.
July 31st, 2010 at 5:47 am
“The NHS does not fund hymen repair operations for cultural reasons. All operations on the NHS are on the basis of clinical need. Operations to repair the hymen are only carried out exceptionally to secure physical or psychological health.”
I have to wonder what physical, medical danger a woman can suffer because of a broken hymen?
As for the psychological issues, I can imagine this could be an issue for some young women and may cause them deep distress, other elective surgeries are carried out on the NHS for similar reasons [as stated by the patient] such breast enlargement or gender reassignment.
In these cases I believe it to be a preoccupation brought about by the conflict of normal modern life and corrupt cultural traditions and as such the women are victims here; it’s possible that if we take the NHS claim at face value that this course of action might be a more effective treatment for the individual than if the alternative was, say, CBT or extensive counselling.
July 31st, 2010 at 5:53 am
I’d suggest a small biodegradeable phial of some reddish fluid, discretely administered by the bride.
I’m fascinated to learn in just what loony universe the restoration of a bride’s hymen ‘restores her virginity’,do her previous sexual partners vanish?
July 31st, 2010 at 6:21 am
A post above suggested that the blokes are supposed to be pure too. How can you tell a bloke is yet to dip the wick?
July 31st, 2010 at 7:19 am
How about a halal chastity-belt for the boys, to be worn from the age of, let’s say 12 till the ‘happy’ occasion arrives they can have sex with another virgin. Until that time they can walk around with blue balls from looking at scantily clad kaffir (what’s the correct spelling of this word?) women, without the relief of a wank. The importance of virginity might soon be reconsidered.
As for the physical or psychological health BS: the only reason these women want their hymen back is probably to prevent a wedding-night spent in a hospital, or worse, in case hubby finds out he’s gotten himself ‘used’ goods. But why would he care, with 72 virgins lined up in paradise? He can wait.
July 31st, 2010 at 9:27 am
Does the Koran demand a potential wife to be a virgin or is this another case of a dark-age culture that refuses to die. I’m sick of cultural relativism being used as an excuse for religious abuse.
July 31st, 2010 at 12:04 pm
i can remember when the phrase ‘born again virgin’ was used jokingly to describe a dry spell. This just takes the biscuit!
August 1st, 2010 at 1:08 am
Sewing up a woman’s hoo-hoo doesn’t magically make her a virgin if she’s already done the deed. Of course if you believe in magic fairies I imagine you could believe a piece of skin makes you a virgin no matter how many times you’ve ridden the pony.
August 1st, 2010 at 11:15 pm
@Angela_K
“However, this sort of degrading surgery, that is only performed to satisfy the vanity of a bunch of insecure men, should be outlawed.”
Also outlaw: botox, liposuction, silicone augmentation,butt bleaching, collegen injections, face lifts, and vagina tightning that are only performed to satisfy the vanity of insecure women.