The State Minister for Gender and Culture Peace Mutuuzo has called for a halt on genital elongation or labia pulling commonly known as Okusika in Buganda. The practice is common among the Bantu.
The minister claims that the practice is part of Female Genital Mutilation and not in line with the United Nations fundamental rights.
“There are many Ssengas that are teaching our young girls these things of elongation which are not accepted in the United Nations Human rights standards. The other people are matrons and some students who pull our daughters when they are at a tender age,” Mutuuzo said.
Mutuuzo said science had proven that labia pulling does not add or remove anything from a female body but some people are just making money from it in the guise of helping others.
Labia pulling is a traditional practice mainly among the Baganda and some tribes in Southern Uganda.
Labia stretching, also referred to as labia elongation or labia pulling, is the act of lengthening the labia minora (the inner lips of the female genitals) through manual manipulation (pulling) or physical equipment (such as weights).
It is a familial cultural practice in parts of Eastern and Southern Africa, and a body modification practice elsewhere. It is performed for sexual enhancement for the benefit of both partners, aesthetics, symmetry and gratification.
Elongated labia are perceived to facilitate orgasm and female ejaculation, and are considered to enhance sexual pleasure for both partners.[1] Women who have unequally long labia may increase the size of the shorter to achieve symmetry. They also swell inwards, partially blocking the entrance to the vagina.
WHO had listed it as part of FGM but research has since been done and proved that it does not violate women’s rights
