Editing Hymen (section)

==Cultural and religious significance==
{{further|Virginity test}}
The hymen is often attributed important cultural significance in certain communities because of its association with a woman's [[virginity]]. In those cultures, an intact hymen is highly valued at marriage in the belief that this is a proof of virginity.<ref name="ucsb sexinfo" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-muslimwomen-europe-virginity-idUSL2532025120070430?pageNumber=2&sp=true |title=Muslim women in France regain virginity in clinics |work=Reuters |quote='Many of my patients are caught between two worlds,' said Abecassis. They have had sex already but are expected to be virgins at marriage according to a custom that he called 'cultural and traditional, with enormous family pressure'. | date=April 30, 2007}}</ref><ref name=europe/> Some women undergo [[hymenorrhaphy]] to restore their hymen for this reason.<ref name="europe">{{Cite news|last1=Sciolino|first1=Elaine|last2=Mekhennet|first2=Souad|date=June 11, 2008|title=In Europe, Debate Over Islam and Virginity|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/world/europe/11virgin.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=hymen&st=nyt&oref=slogin|access-date=2008-06-13|quote='In my culture, not to be a virgin is to be dirt,' said the student, perched on a hospital bed as she awaited surgery on Thursday. 'Right now, virginity is more important to me than life.'}}</ref> In October 2018, the [[United Nations Human Rights Council|UN Human Rights Council]], [[UN Women]] and the [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) stated that virginity testing must end as "it is a painful, humiliating and traumatic practice, constituting [[violence against women]]".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/17-10-2018-united-nations-agencies-call-for-ban-on-virginity-testing|title=United Nations agencies call for ban on virginity testing|date=17 October 2018|publisher=World Health Organization|access-date=22 October 2018}}</ref>

Some traditional [[Christian theology|Christian theological interpretations]] state that it is intended by God for the husband to be the one to break his wife's hymen, and that the bleeding the hymen, believed occur during first intercourse (but see above), is a [[Covenant (religion)#Christianity|blood covenant]] that seals the bond of [[Christian views on marriage|holy matrimony]] between husband and wife (cf. ''[[consummation]]'').<ref name="Gentry2021">{{cite book |last1=Gentry |first1=Harold |title=Intimacy |date=21 January 2021 |publisher=[[Thomas Nelson (publisher)|WestBow Press]] |isbn=978-1-6642-1232-9 |language=en}}</ref>