Commending new Dutch technique for restoring penile sensation, Clitoraid stresses importance of telling FGM victims about similar restorative procedure

2월 01 2009, 종류: 보도자료
ROTTERDAM, February 1 – The Dutch department of Clitoraid (Clitoraid.org) today expressed its congratulations to doctors from Zwolle and Utrecht who have successfully restored penile sensation to men suffering from spinal chord lesions.
“Bringing back the penile mechanical function to a penis is a beautiful act,” said

Isabel Zabala, spokesperson for Clitoraid. “It will make these men feel whole again and able to experience the sexual pleasure no one should be denied.”
She said Clitoraid is providing similar services to numerous women who have been “circumcised” (genitally mutilated).

“These women have never experienced anything but pain and shame when exposed to sexuality,” Zabala explained. “But now, thanks to a technique developed by a French surgeon, it’s possible to restore their sense of pleasure and their dignity. Clitoraid wants to provide such restoration to as many women as possible.”

She said Clitoraid is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization with worldwide volunteers who promote the procedure. A primary organizational goal is to inform the black and African communities where female genital mutilation is still prevalent.
Zabala said Clitoraid is also building a hospital in the African nation of Burkina Faso to offer the restorative operation free of charge to all women who would like to reverse the effects of genital mutilation. Sex education will also be offered to counter the psychological damage done by years of shame and guilt associated with sex.

“The goal of Clitoraid’s ‘Adopt a Clitoris’ program is to create real, long-lasting changes for women who’ve been forced to undergo clitoral excision – genital mutilation – against their will,” Zabala said. “To rebuild the clitoris, a local anesthetic is used to prevent the patient from experiencing pain when the surgeon uncovers the root of the original organ, which is still there despite the mutilation. That root and the surrounding tissues will become the new clitoris.”

She said recovery from the procedure typically takes about six weeks “to completely heal, with genital normality restored and sexual pleasure the end result.”
To complete construction of the Burkina Faso hospital, Clitoraid is promoting its projects worldwide and asking members of the public to ‘adopt a clitoris.’ (See
“There are big similarities between men suffering from spinal chord lesions and circumcised women,” Zubala pointed out. “Both groups lost feeling in their sexual organ against their will and both consider themselves incomplete because they can’t experience erotic sensation. The big difference between the two is that people who suffer from genital mutilation are victims of a deliberate act performed by primitive people with primitive beliefs. The number of women suffering from such mutilation is enormous. It’s our duty to help these women now that medical knowledge provides a solution.”