So-called "virginity operations" are performed by plastic surgeons and doctors in private clinics, SVT Nyheter's review showed.
Often in secret, as it is a sensitive and criticized business.
The doctor at Diamond plastic surgery in Örebro who was exposed in a hidden recording where he offered the reporter an operation despite her saying she was forced, has now terminated his employment.
After the revelation, the Liberals in the regional council demanded the stop of doctors from the clinic.
Not welcome back
Collaboration with several of the private clinics is now over.
- They are not welcome back here, if they do things like this.
We must help these girls and women to live their lives, not a life of oppression, says Behcet Barsom (KD), chairman of the Örebro health care board.
The doctors, especially from the large plastic clinics, have been taken in by eleven regions around Sweden, SVT's review shows.
In the past five years, the Academy Clinic has invoiced the regions for care for SEK 10.6 million.
When SVT reviews invoices from the larger clinics, it is
not
about "virginity operations" but about other beauty procedures.
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"I think about the safety of the individual woman" - hear the academy clinic's surgeon explain why they offer "virginity operations" and how they are carried out.
Photo: Karin Fallenius/SVT
"
Doctors from the Academy Clinic have performed liposuction for patients in the Jönköping region, and hair transplants for the Västmanland and Uppsala regions.
But Mikael Köhler, director of health and medical care in Region Uppsala, says that doctors who have been exposed for performing "virginity operations" will not continue to be employed.
- We doctors must not cause harm.
It's offensive.
If it is going to cause a bleeding situation, then it is harmful.
It is deeply unethical, says Köhler.
Billed for millions
Of the eleven regions that used the clinics, all distance themselves from them today and believe that they will not be used in the future.
A surgeon at the Aesthetic Institute who offered SVT's reporter a "virginity operation" was hired earlier this year by the Sörmland region for breast plastic surgery.
But neither will they bring in doctors again who they know perform "virginity operations" privately, writes Christoffer Öqvist (M), chairman of the regional board to SVT.
“No, we shall not do that.
It goes against our core values".
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Hear the reporter tell the doctor about the threat - the plastic surgeon then claims he calls the police in such cases.
Photo: SVT
8 out of 10 visits were scams
Region Stockholm has also canceled its contract with the private clinic Vårby Care, which both offered an operation and advised SVT's reporter to stuff a chicken liver to bleed on the wedding night.
The clinic has billed the Stockholm Region for care for SEK 30.7 million over the past five years.
The region's audit shows that it is unclear which interventions the clinic has paid for.
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Minister: a broad criminalization
The responsible authorities Ivo and the National Board of Health and Welfare cannot answer whether "virginity operations" violate the Patient Safety Act, but await a state investigation that would have been presented this week.
The investigation has now been postponed to the future after SVT's review because the government wants the legislation in place when it is presented in the summer.
- We must send a clear message that this should not be supported and definitely not something that the state should participate in with any form of tax financing, says Gender Equality Minister Paulina Brandberg (L)
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See when SVT's reporter wallraffed as a dishonorable woman - and was offered operations to "restore virginity".
Photo: SVT
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