Dr Maiworm called the neighbouring St Vincent's Hospital, run by the Catholic Foundation of the Cellites, to arrange a gynaecological examination - but she said doctors "fearful of their jobs" refused the request.

According to Dr Maiworm, the hospital's ethics committee, following consultation with Archbishop of Cologne Cardinal Joachim Meisner, had decided not to conduct examinations of sexual assault victims to avoid having to be in the position to recommend options such as the morning-after pill, which run contrary to Catholic teachings.

Another hospital run by the same organisation also refused to help, Dr Maiworm claimed.

"Is repeatedly refusing to treat someone who is probably traumatised the moral thing to do? What kind of morality is this?" the doctor was quoted as saying in the German newspaper Westdeutsche Zeitung. "This, to me, is like the Church of the Middle Ages."