We reviewed published studies about the hymen to help guide clinicians in evaluating whether or not a hymen examination would be a valuable practice. The hymen is a small membranous tissue outside of the vaginal canal that has no known biological function. In some settings, clinicians who evaluate women and girls suspected of being victims of sexual assault, or suspected of having engaged in intercourse (with or without consent), rely on an examination of the hymen for their assessments. We call on clinicians to consider the low predictive value of a hymen examination and to: 1) avoid relying solely on the status of the hymen in sexual assault examinations and reporting 2) help raise awareness of this issue among their peers and counterparts in law enforcement and the judicial system and 3) promote fact-based discussions about the limitations of hymenal examinations as part of clinical education for all specialties that address the sexual or reproductive health of women and girls. Clinicians tasked with performing forensic sexual assault examinations should avoid descriptions such as “intact hymen” or “broken hymen” in all cases, and describe specific findings using international standards and terminology of morphological features. We reviewed published evidence to dispel commonly held myths about the hymen and its morphology, function, and use as evidence in cases of sexual violence.Īn examination of the hymen is not an accurate or reliable test of a previous history of sexual activity, including sexual assault. Clinicians, however, continue to refer to changes in the hymen to assess for a history of consensual or nonconsensual sexual intercourse. ![]() Conclusions about women’s and girls’ sexual history are made in some settings based on assumptions about the hymen, a small membranous tissue with no known biological function, which typically occupies a portion of the external vaginal opening in females.
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