After helping to spearhead the campaign to ban Virginity Tests in the UK, Richard Holden MP welcomes that an expert panel has reported today a recommendation that Hymenoplasty be banned as well - the second part of Richard's campaign.
Richard: "I started the campaign in Parliament to ban so-called Virginity Testing and Hymenoplasty with my Private Members Bill (PMB) last year to raise the issue. Unfortunately due to lack of time it didn’t get through but it provided a good basis for raising the issue and for legislative amendments for the future.
I kept the pressure up and this year I got cross-party support backing to add new clauses to ban so-called Virginity Testing and Hymenoplasty in the Health and Care Bill.
The Government accepted amendments to ban Virginity Testing and after pressure established an expert panel to look at Hymenoplasty after I worked with Karma Nirvana, MEWSorganisation, & IKWRO and got the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists RCOG, Royal College of Nursing & The Royal College of Midwives on board too in order to advance the issue.
The expert panel has reported today and recommended that Hymenoplasty be banned as well - and the Government has told me that further amendments will be made to the Health and Care Bill to this affect in the House of Lords, where my friend Liz Sugg has been helping the campaign.
This is a major step forward in tackling the fight against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Violence against Women and Girls and I am delighted that this long-running campaign that a I’ve led will see major legislative change.
My friend Pauline Latham MP also has my full supporting in her Bill to raise the age of marriage to 18 for men and women, helping to stop young men and women be pressured into marriages they are not ready to commit to."
You can find out what this is all about and why it’s so important here: www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-55078634