• Gender
• Zambia

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It is a practice that has rarely been written or talked about, but female genital elongation is real. It has been practiced in most parts of central Africa. What is this practice and why?

This is a practice that girls as young as 10 and above are advised to adopt. Mrs Elizabeth Zulu is an “alangizi” -- a traditional marriage counselor. She explained that by the use of fingers the girls are taught to pull parts of their genital for a certain period of time. The genitals, especially the labia, lengthen.

The main reason they are taught is this, is that they should not have problems during childbirth and of course to ensure that their husbands enjoy sex. It is believed men feel better when women have undergone this practice.

Said Mrs. Zulu, a farmer in the eastern part of Lusaka, Zambia: “This system was practiced by our foremothers so I see nothing wrong with it and it is safe.” In an interview with Dr Selia Nganjo, a gynecologist at St John's hospital in Lusaka, she explained that she has come across a lot of these women during her career and that she has not noticed any complications among the child bearing women.

She says the practice is safe compared to the genital mutilation practiced in some parts of east Africa, where she worked for over five years. She has also heard that it is good for men.
Why has traditional society believed in men’s satisfaction only and not women's? Don’t African women require having sexual satisfaction too? Mrs Zulu believes it is not good for a woman to show that she is enjoying it, and that men are the ones who usually ask for it first.

She further explained that girls use caster plant seeds which are burnt and ground to powder then the powder is placed between the fingers to pull the labia. Others are advised to smoke some tree leaves. Once they cough, the labia grows longer. She said tradition believes the female genital organ is like a house, and a house without curtains or doors is not safe and complete.

One 17 year old narrated her ordeal: “My mother took me to see some elderly women when I became of age -- I was 12 years at that time." They taught me a lot of things. One of them was the pulling my genitals. They explained to me that it was going to be safe during childbirth. She pulled her labia for five months and during the time she noticed that her private parts had grown longer.
While this practice is common in Central Africa, it remains to be seen whether this custom will continue.