(Euro Weekly) Virginity certificates are now quite rare in France, but there are still petitions and doctors who lend themselves to it, despite the fact that professional associations have strictly opposed it for years.
Those who require these virginity certificates are usually young women who are getting married, almost always outside of France, in their countries of origin. To avoid suspicions of the groom’s family, or to reassure the father herself, they prefer that a gynaecologist confirms in writing that her hymen is intact.
The French government and the World Health Organisation — which ruled in 2018 — see the virginity certificates and test as something old-fashioned and a violation of the fundamental rights of women.
However, there is no absolute consensus.
