Clitoral Reconstruction After Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A Review of Surgical Techniques and Ethical Debate.

Introduction: Clitoral reconstruction (CR) is a controversial surgical procedure performed for women who have undergone medically unnecessary, often ritualistic genital cutting involving the clitoris. Such cutting is known by several terms; we will use female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). Treatments offered to women affected by complications of FGM/C include defibulation (releasing the scar of infibulation to allow penetrative intercourse, urinary flow, physiological delivery, and menstruation) and CR to decrease pain, improve sexual response, and create a pre-FGM/C genital appearance.

Female Genital Cutting and Deinfibulation: Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior to Research and Practice.

At least 200 million girls and women across the world have experienced female genital cutting (FGC). International migration has grown substantially in recent decades, leading to a need for health care providers in regions of the world that do not practice FGC to become knowledgeable and skilled in their care of women who have undergone the procedure. There are four commonly recognized types of FGC (Types I, II, III, and IV).

Understanding Women's Responses to Sexual Pain After Female Genital Cutting: An Integrative Psychological Pain Response Model.

The World Health Organization estimates that over 200 million women and girls have experienced female genital cutting (FGC). Many women and girls who have undergone FGC have migrated to areas of the world where providers are unfamiliar with the health needs associated with FGC. Both providers in Western healthcare systems and female immigrant and refugee patients report communication difficulties leading to distrust of providers by women who have experienced FGC.