Peer-reviewed article
Clitoral Therapy Device for Alleviating Sexual Dysfunction After Female Genital Mutilation: Randomized Controlled Trial.
Sakr HR, Ahmed YA, Kamel RM, Abdelhady RH, Elkalla RA et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This is a peer-reviewed study of an intervention for adult women, not children. While female genital mutilation affects children, this randomized controlled trial examines treatment outcomes in married women aged 20-45 years who have already undergone the procedure. The study evaluates a clitoral therapy device combined with psychosexual education to address sexual dysfunction in adults.
Key points
- Study population was 80 married women aged 20-45 years, not children
- Intervention tested on adults experiencing sexual dysfunction after FGM
- Both intervention and control groups showed improvements in most sexual function domains
- Study was conducted at a university hospital in Egypt
Limitations
This document does not provide evidence about child well-being, prevention of FGM in children, or interventions targeting children. It focuses solely on adult treatment outcomes.
Abstract
Background Female genital mutilation is considered a crime but is still practiced today in Africa and the Middle East, despite all the laws that make this procedure illegal due to the long-term physical and psychological harm it causes to women. Millions of girls and women living today have undergone genital mutilation, which involves removing the external female genitalia either partially or totally, based on the belief that it restricts feminine sexuality, thereby "saving" a girl for marriage. For girls and women, the surgery offers no health advantages. Girls' right to control critical decisions regarding their sexual and reproductive health is violated because genital mutilation is frequently done against their will and frequently without their consent, leading to lifelong psychic trauma in addition to sexual dysfunction and lack of satisfaction due to distortion of the genitalia that threatens marital stability. Objective To determine the effect of a clitoral therapy device on improving sexual domains in women suffering from sexual dysfunction after female genital mutilation. Methods This study examined 80 married women aged from 20 to 45 years who were referred from the gynecology outpatient clinic of the Faculty of Medicine, Suez University, for sexual dysfunction resulting from female genital mutilation. The women were divided into 2 equal groups: the study group received a clitoral therapy device and traditional psychosexual education and were closely followed for 3 months, while the control group received only traditional psychosexual education for 3 months. The Arabic version of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) questionnaire was used to assess sexual outcomes pre- and posttreatment in the 2 groups. Results Our findings revealed a significant increase in the 6 domains of the FSFI pretreatment in both groups compared to posttreatment (P>.001), except the orgasm domain in the control group, which showed only a nonsignificant increase (P=.16). Conclusions Clitoral therapy devices may be an effective, safe, noninvasive rehabilitation method for sexual dysfunction following female genital mutilation. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05039775; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05039775.