Introduction and objective:
Myths equating virginity with first-coital vaginal bleeding conflict with biomedical evidence. The aim of the study is to assess the prevalence of absent first-coital bleeding among women in Turkey and its physical and psychosocial correlates.

Material and methods:
In a retrospective cross-sectional study, 533 women were classified as bleeding-negative (n=155, 29.1%) or bleeding-positive (n=378, 70.9%) based on first intercourse history. Retrospective (T0) and current (T1) variables were compared.

Results:
The groups were homogenous regarding age at T1, age at T0, and the calculated time elapsed between T0 and T1. Significant differences emerged at T1; Group 1 exhibited higher rates of university/master’s education (p=0.008), and lower-level economic status was higher in Group 2 (p<0.05). Crucially, at T1, the divorce rate was substantially higher in Group 1 (12.9% vs. 2.6%; p=0.002), and the lifetime number of marriages was significantly elevated (p<0.05). Regarding T0, Group 2 reported significantly higher subjective fear (69.6% vs. 54.8%), physical arousal (76.5% vs. 64.5%), higher VAS pain scores (5.08 ±2.67 vs. 4.55 ±2.82; p=0.041), and required more penetration attempts (2.64 ±3.37 vs. 2.13 ±1.57; p=0.020). Importantly, 41.9% of women in the bleeding-negative group (Group 1) explicitly reported exposure to domestic, verbal, or physical violence at T1, specifically triggered by the absence of bleeding on the wedding night.

Conclusions:
Absence of first-coital bleeding is a common physiological variation (29.1%) but remains a trigger for domestic violence and relationship instability in settings where virginity myths persist. Routine violence screening and psychosexual counselling should be integrated into gynaecological care.