WOMEN who are 鈥渃ircumcised鈥� tend to lose their virginity younger, are more likely to initiate sex and suffer more health problems, a Nigerian study has shown. So far from reducing sexual activity and promoting sexual health, as traditionalists argue, genital mutilation has the opposite effect.
The findings may prove invaluable in future campaigns against the practice, says lead author Friday Okonofua of the Women鈥檚 Health and Action Research Centre in Benin.
鈥淚t is nice to have scientific confirmation of what we have believed all along: that female circumcision is a pointless, barbaric act,鈥� says Zahrah Awaleh of Forward, a London-based group campaigning against discriminatory practices.
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Female genital mutilation is still performed on 2 million girls a year in parts of Africa and Asia, in the belief that it reduces promiscuity and improves reproductive health.
The team examined 1836 women attending a clinic, 45 per cent of whom had been circumcised. The wealth of their families was not a factor. Some had just had part or all of the clitoris removed, while others had also had the labia cut off.
The women were asked about the frequency of sexual intercourse and the level of sexual pleasure. There was no difference between the cut and uncut women in how frequently they had intercourse, or in the proportion of women who said that there were easily 鈥渢urned on鈥�. In fact, cut women were more likely to initiate sexual intercourse.
There was also no difference in the proportion of women reporting orgasm during intercourse. But there was a difference in the area of greatest sensitivity. In cut women the breasts were the most sensitive area, suggesting that sexual sensitivity is conserved by a shift in the point of maximal stimulation.
Okonofua also points out that circumcised women can probably have an orgasm because there is always a remnant of the clitoris left. 鈥淭he muscular part that surrounds the vagina can never really be removed,鈥� he says. 鈥淥rgasm can still be reached if this part is intensely and maximally stimulated.鈥�
One key difference was that circumcised women were more likely to have reproductive-tract infections, vaginal discharge and genital warts, as other studies have also shown. They also had an average of 4.3 children compared with 2.3 for uncut women.