Circumcision improves sex, women confess

Aug 21, 2009

Women whose male sexual partners are circumcised report an improvement in their sex life, a survey shows.

Women whose male sexual partners are circumcised report an improvement in their sex life, a survey shows.

Researchers studied 455 partners of men in Uganda who were recently circumcised. Nearly 40% said sex was more satisfying afterwards. About 57% said they hadn’t noticed any change yet in sexual satisfaction and only 3% said sex was less satisfying after their partner was circumcised. These 3% said their men had lower levels of desire.

Also, some women said their partners had less or no difficulty maintaining or getting an erection.

The findings were presented at the Fifth International AIDS Society Conference in Cape Town, South Africa in July.

The women in the study all participated in the landmark Rakai circumcision trial, one of three studies that showed that circumcision reduces a man’s risk of acquiring HIV by more than 50%.

Top reasons cited by women for their better sex life after circumcision were improved hygiene, longer time in sex – long enough for the women to achieve orgasm, and their partner wanting more frequent sex, says Dr Godfrey Kigozi, of the Rakai Health Sciences Programme in Kalisizo.

Kigozi says he undertook the survey because some activists have objected to male circumcision because of lack of data on female sexual satisfaction.

“We included only women who said they were sexually satisfied before their partner was circumcised,” Kigozi says. “Then we asked them to compare their sexual satisfaction before and afterward.”

The findings are good news as they show that the use of circumcision to fight HIV is acceptable to women, he adds.

Compiled by Hilary Bainemigisha

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