Nurse challenges international tampon company.

AN AUCKLAND-BASED nurse specialist in sexual abuse care, Kathy Lowe, has persuaded an international company that distributes Libra tampons to change information contained in its Libra GirlTalk pamphlet.

The information about hymens in the pamphlet was incorrect and Lowe wanted it changed. She became aware of the incorrect information when her ten-year-old daughter brought home the pamphlet. "The pamphlet stated the hymen was a structure that partly covered the vagina and was usually broken during first sex. The pamphlet said the hymen could also break during medical examinations. Both these comments were completely wrong."

Lowe says the hymen is like a "hair scrunchy" and is an elasticised structure that usually stretches at first sex and is almost never harmed during a medical examination.

Lowe contacted the company, Sancella's, nurse consultant, Fiona Lowe, via the comparty's website and pointed out that the information in the pamphlet was incorrect and provided the company with the correct information. Fiona Lowe said when the information was originally published it was based on information from a medical practitioner. The information on the company's internet site was different from that in the pamphlet and stated that the hymen was elastic and designed to be broken.

Kathy Lowe pointed out that this information was also incorrect. "It is a big myth that the hymen breaks. It doesn't. It just stretches like a scrunchy and some people have stretchier hymens than others."

She sent the company a copy of an address she gave the Australasian College of Sexual Health Physicians earlier this year on hymens and virginity and the annotated bibliography and has subsequently received confirmation that the information in the pamphlet and on the internet site will be changed.

"It is wonderful that a large company has listened and responded. The information is now clear and absolutely correct."

Explaining her "passion for hymens"--"I think I could call myself a hymenologist!"--Lowe said her work over the last 12 years with sexually abused people made her realise the damage and emotional pain the myth of the broken hymen, meaning a loss of virginity, could cause. "Sexually abused people often see themselves as 'damaged goods'. To be able to tell them that any damage to the hymen is very small and that nobody would be able to tell; to tell them their hymen stretches and that's what causes the pain; to tell them they are physically normal; and to explain that virginity is not something you can have taken from you, rather you choose to give it away, is very empowering for them. To see the relief on their faces is wonderful. To be able to educate and empower people like that is a wonderful nursing intervention. And it's an easy thing to do and it doesn't cost any money."

She is surprised how few people know this information. "I give lectures to Auckland Hospital staff, and doctors and nurses don't know it. The myth of the broken hymen symbolising loss of virginity is very deeply ingrained in our society. It is important that all nurses, particularly those who work with young people, know the correct information and can impart it."

Lowe takes every opportunity she can to debunk the myth. She has put together a pamphlet on hymens, which is available through Starship Hospital.