In some parts of the world, women are still tortured and killed because they were not thought to be virgins on their wedding night.
Even in the West, some girls in certain cultures can be shamed if their new husbands believe they have slept with another man before them.
Fake: The product acts just like a real hymen according to manufacturers
Photo: Courtesy
Now a German company is cashing in on that fear by selling replacement hymens to women so they can trick their husbands into thinking they have never had sex.
VirginiaCare offers customers a self-dissolving artificial hymen with real blood inside that can be used to simulate virginity without the need for medical intervention.
It sells itself as a cheap alternative for terrified women who fear they might be shamed or worse if they don't have an operation to restore their hymen.
The membrane is designed so that it fixes itself in place from the warmth and moisture inside the woman's body, and then when it is pierced during sex the blood mixture provides 'proof' that she is indeed a virgin.
The company has testimonials from Muslim customers saying that the product saved their lives. One wrote: "If your product did not exist, I would not now exist either."
Another wrote: "I cannot begin to say how much you helped me. All the thanks in the world."
The online hymen service has however caused outrage in Egypt where politicians have called for it to be made illegal.
A company spokesman said it delivered the product all over the world but almost all of the customers were women with a Muslim background, with business booming particularly from Muslim women living in Europe.
The package also comes with instructions telling a woman how to pretend that she has not had sex before.
It says: "The woman needs to show pain. That is exactly what the man expects from a woman having sex for the first time.
The firm even offers to different types, one is the Virginia Care Original but has a red-brown colour aimed mainly at parents and in-laws for the day after to prove virginity.
The second is with a lighter more 'fresh-blood' look to it designed to convince a suspicious new husband.
According to Breitbart , an Afghani woman recently told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that in her country women who do not have bloodstained sheets on their wedding night can be tortured, returned to their parents and even have their ears and nose cut off.
A Pakistani couple living in Germany were recently jailed for life for the ‘honour killing’ of their 19-year-old daughter who they found out had been stealing condoms for sex with her boyfriend. As a result of bringing ‘shame’ on the family, her father strangled her while her mother watched.