Infibulation is the ritual removal of the

vulva In mammals, the vulva (: vulvas or vulvae) comprises mostly external, visible structures of the female sex organ, genitalia leading into the interior of the female reproductive tract. For humans, it includes the mons pubis, labia majora, lab ...

and its suturing, a practice found mainly in northeastern Africa, particularly in

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

, and

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

. The

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

refers to the procedure as Type III

female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM) (also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision) is the cutting or removal of some or all of the vulva for non-medical reasons. Prevalence of female ge ...

. The term can also refer to the entirely different practice of placing a clasp through the

foreskin In male Human body, human anatomy, the foreskin, also known as the prepuce (), is the double-layered fold of Human skin, skin, Mucous membrane, mucosal and Muscle tissue, muscular tissue at the distal end of the human penis that covers the glans ...

in men; for more information see the article Fibula (penile).

Female

The

refers to female infibulation as Type III female genital mutilation. Often called "pharaonic circumcision" (or ''farooni'') in countries where it is practiced. It refers to the removal of the inner and outer labia and the suturing of the

. It is usually accompanied by the removal of the clitoral glans. The practice is concentrated in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan. During a 2014 survey in Sudan, over 80 percent of those who had experienced any form of FGM had been sewn closed. The procedure leaves a wall of skin and flesh across the

vagina In mammals and other animals, the vagina (: vaginas or vaginae) is the elastic, muscular sex organ, reproductive organ of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vulval vestibule to the cervix (neck of the uterus). The #Vag ...

and the rest of the pubic area. By inserting a twig or similar object before the wound heals, a small hole is created for the passage of urine and menstrual blood. 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 Obstetric fistula is a medical condition in which a hole develops in the birth canal as a result of childbirth. This can be between the vagina and rectum, ureter, or bladder. It can result in incontinence of urine or feces. Complications may ...

, and fatal bleeding.Abdulcadira, Jasmine, et al. (January 2011)
"Care of women with female genital mutilation/cutting"
. ''Swiss Medical Weekly'', 6(14).

Male

Infibulation also referred to placing a clasp through the male

.Favazza, Armando R. (1996).''Bodies Under Siege: Self-mutilation and Body Modification in Culture and Psychiatry''. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp.&nbs
190–191
In

ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

, male athletes, singers and other public performers used a clasp or string to close the foreskin and draw the penis over to one side, a practice known as ''kynodesmē'' (literally "dog tie"). Many ''kynodesmē'' are depicted on vases, almost exclusively confined to symposiasts and komasts, who are as a general rule older (or at least mature) men.Zanker, Paul and Shapiro, Alan (1996). '' The Mask of Socrates: The Image of the Intellectual in Antiquity''. University of California Press. pp. 28–29. In Rome, a

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

was often a type of ring used similarly to a kynodesme. ''Kynodesmē'' 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 male human anatomy, the glans penis or penile glans, commonly referred to as the glans, (; from Latin ''glans'' meaning "acorn") is the bulbous structure at the Anatomical terms of location#Proximal and distal, distal end of the human penis ...

in particular.Schmidt, Michael (2004). ''The First Poets''. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 263. 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.

Female

Male

References

Further reading