Virginity

Articles

• Belgian Medical Board Urges Ban on Controversial Virginity Tests
  26 February 2019, by Said

  Virginity tests should no longer be issued by doctors in Belgium. This is at least what the Order of Physicians hopes, which has just issued a call to health professionals to no longer provide this controversial certificate.
  For the Order of Physicians, these certificates are not only "useless for health" but also have no "scientific relevance" and should therefore be simply refused by professionals, writes the National Council of the Belgian Order of Physicians in an opinion published a (…)

• Sexual Taboos and Women’s Rights in North Africa: New Book Explores Societal Challenges
  25 June 2019, by Bladi.net

  "The woman’s body still belongs to society," notes Michaëlle Gagnet, author of this book whose reading is worth recommending to everyone, to better understand the subtleties of the Maghreb society’s approach to sex.
  In the book in question, reports francetvinfo.fr, Michaëlle Gagnet mentions these countries where "we do not talk about sexuality, neither in families nor in schools." An attitude that is not without consequences on society. Indeed, the author mentions cases of rape and incest, (…)

• Moroccan Rights Group Proposes Castration for Sex Offenders Amid Rising Rape Cases
  27 August 2019, by Bladi.net

  Cases of rape are multiplying in Ouazzane. Faced with this painful situation for the families of the victims, it is the Regional Office of the Moroccan League of Human Rights (LMDH) that has taken the lead, proposing the "surgical castration" of criminals.
  This proposal from the Regional Office of the Moroccan League of Human Rights is based on the extent of the phenomenon in the region, and in particular on the work carried out by its section in Ouazzane, reports Hespress.
  Indeed, in (…)

• Virginity Pressures Haunt Wedding Nights in Arab and Muslim Countries
  23 January 2020, by Sylvanus

  Certain traditional practices continue to resist time in Arab and Muslim countries like Morocco, to the point that marriage can shatter after the wedding night. Women pay the heavy price.
  Many women are struggling with their wedding night due to sociological pressures. The woman must remain a virgin before marriage in several Arab and Muslim countries. The British media BBC met with some of them.
  Against all odds, Somayya* had married Ibrahim* whom she loved so much. Only, she was far (…)

• France to Criminalize Doctors Issuing Virginity Certificates for Religious Marriages
  9 September 2020, by Sylvanus

  Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced the penalization of virginity certificates that doctors issue to their patients as part of a religious marriage. This idea is not to the liking of gynecologist Ghada Hatem.
  "Some doctors still dare to certify that a woman is a virgin to allow a religious marriage, despite the condemnation of these practices by the Order of Physicians. We will not only formally prohibit it but propose the penalization," the minister said in an interview with the (…)

• France Moves to Criminalize Virginity Certificates, Challenging Global Practice
  16 September 2020, by Ginette

  Nearly twenty countries in the world, including Morocco, according to the WHO, make the "certificate of virginity" the cornerstone that determines the precious nature of marriage. But France wants to distance itself from these countries.
  The issue under the theme of "separatism" had been publicly mentioned on February 18, 2020 by President Emmanuel Macron. Then some ministers spoke out on the matter. They see it as a sad way of objectifying women. "Some doctors still dare to certify that (…)

• Moroccan Activists Launch Campaign to Ban Controversial Virginity Tests
  17 February 2021, by Ginette

  A few days after the launch of the "STOP 490" campaign for the decriminalization of consensual and extramarital sexual relations, Moroccan civil society is engaged in another battle. The Alternative Movement for Individual Freedoms (M.A.L.I) has launched an online campaign aimed at ending the practice of virginity tests and the issuance of virginity certificates in Morocco.
  The movement is outraged by the obligation sometimes imposed on Moroccan women to present a certificate of virginity (…)

• Moroccan Activists Launch Online Dictionary to Combat Harmful Virginity Test Practices
  10 February 2022, by Ginette

  "The macabre dictionary of virginity tests" is the latest publication of the Alternative Movement for Individual Freedoms (MALI) to denounce and condemn the risks of the sacredness, of female virginity and all the cruel practices surrounding it in Morocco.
  The Alternative Movement for Individual Freedoms (MALI) believes that virginity tests cause physical and psychological pain and have harmful consequences on women’s health. This is why this dictionary, available in Arabic, English and (…)

• Moroccan Author Exposes Cultural Obsession with Female Virginity
  17 February 2020, by Sylvanus

  In her book Sex and Lies: The Sexual Life of Moroccans, published in Paris in 2017, the Franco-Moroccan journalist and writer Leïla Slimani describes the perception that Moroccan society has of the virginity of Moroccan women.
  "Virginity is an obsession in Morocco and in the Arab world. Whether you are liberal or not, religious or not, it is impossible to escape this obsession," says Leïla Slimani. She explains that a woman is supposed to provide a "certificate of celibacy" before getting (…)

• Moroccan Teacher Arrested for Sexual Blackmail and Attempted Rape of Student
  17 December 2019, by Bladi.net

  The police officers arrested a philosophy teacher who used his notes to sexually blackmail his students. The latter, aged 38, was caught in the act of sexual harassment, attempted rape and blackmail, by the police elements who, in collusion with the victim, set a trap for him.
  Using notes to force his student to submit to his sexual desires. This is the strategy used by this teacher in a high school located in the Moulay Rachid district, who put daily pressure on his 17-year-old minor (…)