Infibulation

Infibulation is what is considered to be the most intrusive type of circumcision, according to the Concise Medical Dictionary published by Oxford University Press. Infibulation is a practice seen in both women and in male patients, but more frequently in women in underdeveloped countries where female genital mutilation is practiced. In women infibulation refers to the act of the "excision of clitoris, labia minora, and labia majora." [1] In male participants, infibulation is where a a piece of thread or a clasp is placed through the foreskin of the penis.[2]

Female Infibulation

For more information on female circumcision see: Female Genital Mutilation

Female infibulation, classified as type III female genital mutilation, is where the clitoris, labia minora and labia majora are removed from the vagina and the wound is then sewn shut. This leaves just a piece of skin where there used to be a vagina. While the wound is healing there will usually be a placement of an instrument that will create a small hole in the vagina that will allow for the woman to urinate and have a menstrual cycle. [1] After the process is completed the young girl is forced to have her legs bound together and be bed ridden for up to 6 weeks while the wound is healing. [3]

Infibulation is used as a way to ensure that the young girl will refrain from sex until she is married off. This is when the practice causes even more issues in the woman's life; when a woman becomes a wife and is expected to sexually please her husband she is then either cut open again to allow enough room for the penis to be inserted or have her husband forcefully insert his penis into the small opening intended for urination and menstrual bleeding. Later when the woman becomes pregnant and has to give birth she is further cut open, episiotomy, then sewn back up to how she had originally been. This process is often referred to as defibulation. [4]

The different stages of Female Genital Mutilation

History of Female Infibulation

The history female infibulation is one that is hard to exactly pinpoint because of the lack of written records from the areas that have widely used this procedure on the young women in their communities. Female genital mutilation can be dated back to 2,000 years ago. Many communities such as the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Ethiopians and the Greeks have believed that the practice of infibulation was necessary. Because there is an importance of the women's sexual integrity associated with the practice of infibulation there seems to be a correlation between patriarchal communities and infibulation.[5]

In the 19th century there is evidence that infibulation began to have increased practices in the developed world such as the United States and the United Kingdom. Female circumcision was seen, by physicians, as a way to combat many sexual taboos that they believed had started to plague the community. These issues included masturbation, nymphomania and other abnormal sexual practices of the time.[5]

Today the practice is mainly focused in developing countries within Africa and in the Middle East. It is mostly practiced in northeastern Africa, particularly Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan. [6]

Consequences of Infibulation

Short-Term

After the act of infibulation women can experience short-term consequences such as infection. Infection of the wound can lead to septicemia, which can often lead to the death of a patient. Other girls can experience the wound not properly healing due to the procedure being completed wrongly or continuous strain on the wound that prohibits proper healing. The girl can also experience extreme bleeding that could also put the patient's life in danger. [7]

Long-Term

Long-term effects of infibulation on a woman will usually continue throughout the rest of her life. infections of the wounds can lead to abscesses and other infectious diseases such as HIV or Hepatitis B. Because there is such a small opening to the vagina complications such as chronic pain during intercourse is often claimed by women who have undergone this procedure. Because sex is more difficult after the infibulation there is also speculation that infertility can occur. Other issues such as urinary infections and trouble with consistent menstrual cycles is also be attributed to female circumcision.

High risk labors are also prone in the women who have experienced an infibulation. Risks of postpartum hemorrhaging and stillbirth increase in women with this procedure.[7]

=Notes==
  1. ^ a b "Concise Medical Dictionay". http://www.oxfordreference.com. Oxford University Press. 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  2. ^ a b Favazza, Armando (1996). Bodies Under Siege: Self-mutilation and Body Modification in Culture and Psychiatry. Baltmore: John Hopkins University. p. 190.
  3. ^ Momoh, Comfort (2005). Female Genital Mutilation. Radcliffe Publishing. p. 7.
  4. ^ Johansen, Ragnhild Elise B. "Undoing female genital cutting: perceptions and experiences of infibulation, defibulation and virginity among Somali and Sudanese migrants in Norway". Culture, Health & Sexuality: 1–15. doi:10.1080/13691058.2016.1239838.
  5. ^ a b Momoh, Comfort (2005). Female Genital Mutilation. Radcliffe Publishing. p. 5.
  6. ^ Yoder, Stanley; Khan, Shane (2008). "Numbers of Women Circumcised in Africa:The Production of a Total" (PDF). DHS Working Papers. 39: 1–19.
  7. ^ a b Reisel, Dan; Creighton, Sarah (2014). "Long term health consequences of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)" (PDF). Maturitas. 80: 48–51 – via Elsevier.
  8. ^ a b Schulthesis, D.; Mattelaer, J.J.; Hodges, F.M. (2003). "Preputial Infibulation: From Ancient Medicine to Modern Genital Piercing". BJU International. 92: 758–763 – via EBSCOhost.
  9. ^ Celsus, Aulus (1971). De Medicina: In Three Volumes. Translated by Spencer, Walter G. London: Heinemann.
  10. ^ Favazza, Armando R. (1996-05-09). Bodies Under Siege: Self-mutilation and Body Modification in Culture and Psychiatry. JHU Press. p. 283. ISBN 9780801853005.

Male Infibulation

Male infibulation is the process of binding the foreskin shut in hopes of preventing "eversion and retraction".[8] When the wound would heal it would make it hard or painful for the subject to become erect.[2]

Over time male infibulation has been an act that usually is no longer practiced except for in cases of a recent body modification movement.

History of Male Infibulation

Male infibulation became a popular practice in ancient Rome. Aulus Cornelius Celsus refers to infibulation, in the earliest written account of the act:

"The foreskin covering the glans is stretched forwards and the point for perforation marked on each side with ink. Then the foreskin is let go. If the marks are drawn back over the glans too much has been included, and the marks should be placed further forward. If the glans is clear of them, their position is suitable for the pinning. Then the foreskin is transfixed at the marks by a threaded needle, and the ends of this thread are knotted together. Each day the tread is moved until the edges of the perforations have cicatrized. When this is assured the thread is withdrawn and a fibula inserted, and the lighter this is the better. But this operation is more often superfluous than necessary." [9]

We also see an emergence of the practice again in the 19th century in the United States, as we see with female infibulation. In an effort to stop masturbation in men, doctors like Dr. Wilson Lockhart would perform these infibulations on his male patients but stated that he would usually have no luck in stopping the habit from occurring.[8]

Body Modification

Today we see an emergence of male undergoing infibulation as a part of body modification. We see this usually done through piercings of the male genitals.[10]

References

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