What is infibulation, and is it harmful?

“What is infibulation and is it harmful?” was written for BDSMforyou.nl by Mistress Moriah.

Infibulation is the sealing of the vagina or penis to make sexual intercourse impossible. This can be done in all sorts of ways; the most obvious is, of course, the chastity belt. But you can also get creative with needles, staples, clamps, piercings, clothespins, or suture thread. It depends a bit on the kind of play you both enjoy.

Sealing with Wax

Would you prefer to get a little more creative and colorful? Then you can, of course, also seal the vagina or penis with candle wax.

Infibulation outside of BDSM

Within BDSM, infibulation is always temporary, but outside of BDSM, infibulation (or Pharaonic circumcision) is a form of female genital mutilation in which the vaginal opening is narrowed by cutting, moving, and sewing the labia together, with or without clitoridectomy. That’s something you really don’t want to think about. So it’s no surprise that the World Health Organization defines this procedure as female genital mutilation type III, the most severe form.

You might think this form of mutilation is rare, but nothing could be further from the truth. Infibulation is a form that occurs in 10% of circumcised women in Africa. The practice is concentrated in Northeast Africa in the countries of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan. An estimated eight million women have undergone this procedure. As far as I’m concerned, that’s eight million too many.

Removal of the clitoris

In an even more extreme form, the clitoris and both the labia minora and labia majora are removed. The incision sites are then secured together using a clamp, needle, or a thick needle-like spike, or by binding the legs together for several weeks to promote healing. During the healing phase, a small rod is placed in the wound to maintain an opening for the discharge of urine and menstrual fluid.

Infibulation within BDSM

Within BDSM, things are naturally much less extreme and are limited to temporary closure. And that can be quite thrilling and even arousing. Furthermore, no distinction is made between men and women. Both genitalia are eligible for this. For example, in the case of a man, his entire penis is “invisibly stapled (or sewn)” so that it is temporarily hidden.

More information

CBT – Cock and Ball Torture – Theme page

Source

Text & photo: Mistress Moriah