Infibulation

Infibulation is the surgical removal of the external female genitalia and the suturing of the vulva. It can also refer to placing a clasp through the foreskin in men.

Female infibulation, known as Type III female genital mutilation by the World Health Organization and as pharaonic circumcision in Africa, is the removal of the inner and outer labia, and the suturing of the vulva. It is mostly practised in northeastern Africa, particularly Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan.

The procedure leaves a wall of skin and flesh across the vagina and the rest of the pubic area. By inserting a twig or similar before the wound heals, a small hole is created for the passage of urine and menstrual blood. The procedure is usually accompanied by the removal of the clitoral glans. The legs are bound together for two to four weeks to allow healing.

The vagina is usually penetrated at the time of a woman's marriage by her husband's penis, or by cutting the tissue with a knife. The vagina is opened further for childbirth, and usually closed again afterwards, a process known as defibulation (or deinfibulation) and reinfibulation. Infibulation can cause chronic pain and infection, organ damage, prolonged micturition, urinary incontinence, inability to get pregnant, difficulty giving birth, obstetric fistula and fatal bleeding.

Infibulation also referred to placing a clasp through the male foreskin. In ancient Greece, male athletes, singers and other public performers used a clasp or string to close the foreskin and draw the penis over to one side, in a practice known as kynodesmē (literally "dog tie").

This was seen as a sign of restraint and abstinence, but was also related to concerns of modesty; in artistic representations, it was regarded as obscene and offensive to show a long penis and the glans penis in particular. Tying up the penis with a string was a way of avoiding what was seen as the shameful and dishonorable spectacle of an exposed glans penis, something associated with those without repute, such as slaves and barbarians. It therefore conveyed the moral worth and modesty of the subject.

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