ITV | News | Online Article | The value placed on virginity and what happens to the women found to be 'impure'

Journalist Sahar Zand grew up in Iran, where value was placed on a woman's virginity, and was taught that women were disposable to men. When she was 11 she came to the UK with her mum, but soon learnt that a similar notion of value was placed on a woman's virginity and in some cultures, girls were forced to have virginity tests, sometimes in front of family members.

While filming for the ITV Exposure documentary, she discovered some clinics in the UK which offered a procedure to repair the hymen. She writes about her experience in Iran and meeting the women who still experience trauma as a result of what they've gone through.

Author Sahar Zand