Section 136: Offence of virginity testing: England and Wales

Health and Care Act 2022 · 2022 c. 31View on legislation.gov.uk

Part 5: Virginity testing and hymenoplasty offences — CHAPTER 1: Virginity testing offences

It is an offence under the law of England and Wales for a person to carry out virginity testing.

“Virginity testing” means the examination of female genitalia, with or without consent, for the purpose (or purported purpose) of determining virginity.

An offence is committed under subsection (1) only if the person—

is in England and Wales, or
is outside the United Kingdom, and is a United Kingdom national or habitually resident in England and Wales.

“United Kingdom national” means an individual who is—

a British citizen, a British overseas territories citizen, a British National (Overseas) or a British Overseas citizen,
a person who under the British Nationality Act 1981 is a British subject, or
a British protected person within the meaning of that Act.

In subsection (2), “female genitalia” means a vagina or vulva.

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This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.