

Zambia Īccording to a report in the Global Press Journal, labia stretching is common in Zambia, but such a social taboo that it is rarely discussed. Some human rights activists in the country, including feminist scholar Sylvia Tamale, support labia stretching. Patience Akumu, The Observer (Uganda), 2010 Another section of the community downrightly abhors elongated labia. Some people cherish it with their entire being, while others could not care at all about a matter so trivial. Some men have heard of it too, and others have gone beyond the doors of these protected waters. Others have experienced it, complete with its joys and pains, while for many it is a mystery they can only imagine. Labia elongation is something that every girl who has grown up on Ugandan terrain has at least heard about. The most important aspect of gukuna imishino, which may begin about the age of 10, is to assist the couple to perform the sexual practice of kunyaza, in which the sexual satisfaction of the woman comes before that of the man. Women continue the practice into adulthood and through marriage.
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In Rwandan culture, female family members teach girls at puberty how to pull their labia to lengthen them ( gukuna, "pull", imishino "labia" in Kinyarwanda language), using local medicinal flora to ease the process. In Eastern Africa Monica Wilson recorded the custom through her fieldwork with the Nyakyusa people in the 1930s, and in Southern Africa Isaac Schapera worked with the Nama people, the largest group amongst the Khoikhoi, early in the 20th century, publishing The Khoisan Peoples of South Africa in 1930, in which he documents labia stretching. When Captain James Cook reached Cape Town in 1771, towards the end of his first voyage, he acknowledged being "very desirous to determine the great question among natural historians, whether the women of this country have or have not that fleshy flap or apron which has been called the Sinus pudoris" eventually a physician described treating patients with labia ranging from half an inch to three or four inches.



The early recordings of the results of the practice are perhaps among the Khoisan peoples of southern Africa, where the inner labia were seen to be several centimeters longer than the outer labia. The girls are subject to familial and social pressure to conform. Children in the African diaspora practise this too, so it occurs within immigrant communities in, for example, Britain, where a BBC report labelled it a hidden form of child abuse. Girls usually start to stretch their labia from ages 8 to 14, before menarche. However, it may be contrary to African customary law and rights of women if it is in conflict with public policy. The practice of labial stretching does not violate women's rights, in that it does not involve physical violence, unless the woman is misled as to the benefits of the practice. This led the WHO to schedule amending their treatment of it, perhaps as "modification" instead, in February 2008. Lisa Price of Wageningen University, Netherlands. The opposite of labia stretching is labia reduction or labiaplasty, which is performed as a surgical procedure for women whose genitals cause them discomfort or pain, or for aesthetic reasons.Īlthough the World Health Organization previously included labial stretching within the context of "mutilation" (see Genital modification and mutilation), the negative context of that was not supported by the research of Marian Koster MSc and Dr. At the same time, there is evidence that labial elongation may benefit the sexual health and well-being of women. that pain at the beginning of the practice, nuisances related to the use of caustic herbs, and stigmatization in failing to comply with the practice are the principal health risks associated with LME. Some writers have asserted that there is a causal link between labia stretching and rates of infection. Such infections generally occur later in life through sexual activity. The practice of labia stretching itself does not cause sexually transmitted infections (including HIV). They also swell inwards, partially blocking the entrance to the vagina. Women who have unequally long labia may increase the size of the shorter to achieve symmetry. 1 Benefits, drawbacks, and medical issuesīenefits, drawbacks, and medical issues Įlongated labia are perceived to facilitate orgasm and female ejaculation, and are considered to enhance sexual pleasure for both partners.
