Among these was the “Clitoridectomy Support Group.’ It was run by an English woman, and I made contact by phone. She invited me to their location. It was an impressive building, all on one storey. I walked up the steps to the archway, which framed double doors. I knocked and after a minute one of the doors openned.

The woman was dressed all in white. Her garment went to the floor and included a hood. There was a cord around her waist. The hood was down. She was a big boxom woman, a couple of inches taller than me and considerably broader, with a full figure. Her large breasts jutted unsupported through her garment. She had dark hair and blue eyes.

She invited me in. We sat down by a table and she got some tea.

When she came back, I asked about the group, expecting it to be a group either discouraging clitoridectomies and giving solace to those suffering it. They did the latter, but not the former. I was intrigued.

‘Have you had a clitoridectomy?’ I asked.

‘Of course.’ She replied.

‘You would recommend it to others?’

‘Yes, in the right circumstances.’

‘What are they?’

‘That’s complicated.’

I wanted to know how she had got into this position, and asked her.

‘How did it happen to you?’

She related her story.

Sue

She had married an Egyptian man and moved to Egypt. He had not asked her to sacrifice her clítoris but they moved into his widowed mother’s large house. Her monther in law disapproved of her condition and insisted on either chaperoning her or getting a female relative to do the same, whenever she left the house.

This restrictive behaviour continued for a year. Then she conceived and the pressure became greater. However both she and her husband resisted it. Nevertheless, Sue was having doubts. She had always been inorgasmic; demanding sex constantly, but never achieving climax. Her husband liked her permenant availability. She was constantly frustrated.

One hot day, she lay naked on the bed and began to masturbate. Her mother in law walked in and saw what she was doing. Sue was not quick enough to cover herself up.

The mother in law called in her female relatives. Six of them arrived and grabbed Sue. Sue was shocked and hardly struggled. They took her into the central courtyard of the house and held her over a bench in the middle. One woman held each arm and two each leg. The mother in law looked at Sue’s sex. She got a bowl of water and some soap. She washed and lathered between Sue’s legs. The she took out a cut throat razor and shaved off all the pubic hair.

She then parted Sue’s labia and pulled out her clitoris. She held the organ between her thumb and forefinger. She rubbed it and pulled it further, making sure it was fully engorged. Then she tied a doubled ring of cotton round it at the base. She pulled it further out rolling the ring of cotton backwards. She took a mirror so that all the other women could see it.

Sue struggled and tried to pull her hips backwards. The four women holding her legs pulled them back and down. She could not move her pudenda.

Pulling out the clitoris as far as possible, the mother in law put the razor at the base and sliced through it. She put it in small bowl. Then she trimmed the inner labia.

Sue lay exhausted on the bench and the women kept hold of her tightly. Then the mother in law dipped her finger in a bowl of salt and rubbed in the wound, where her clitoris had been. Sue bucked and kicked the women holding her legs away.

The women moved back to get hold of her limbs, but the mother in law said, “Leave her. She has been done. She is now one of us.’

I looked at Sue and said, ‘That sounds horrific.’

“Yes, it was. But I felt better afterwards.’

“How come?’

“I had never had an orgasm, but always wanted one. Now I know I can not have one. I am less demanding. Sex is easier and not unsatisfactory. I am passive in genital sex, and am not disappointed. I use my mouth more. My life is much easier. I wish I had had it done when I was 14.’

‘Are there others like you?’ I asked.

‘In the group, we are all different. But we feel better for what has been done.’

‘Were the others forced, like you?’

‘A couple were, but most have had it done voluntarily. Would you like to meet some others?’

‘Yes.’

‘Ann will be here shortly. Her story is typical of most the group.’

Ann

About half an hour later, a slim brunette arrived. She had long hair and wore a similar long robe to Sue, but her’s was fawn. Sue beckoned her over to the table. Sue explained my mission and got up, giving Ann her seat.

Ann smirked. ‘So you want to know about my initiation.’

“Yes.’

‘There’s not much to tell. It is nothing like Sue’s story or Caroline and Charlotte’s.’

‘Please let me know what happened.’

“ I was 20 and got engaged to this Egyptian. Before we got engaged he did try to bed me, but I said, ‘No, I’m a virgin. I am going to stay that way.’ After a time he gave up and told me how much he valued my virginity.’

‘He was very proper. Not at all like the Englishmen I knew. Everything was safe and secure. I would remain a virgin until my wedding night.’

‘He asked me to marry him and got me an engagement ring. Before I accepted, he told me that if I got engaged, I would have to be circumcised. This would a sign of my commitment.’

“ I did not know what this meant. I had only heard of male circumcision. I could not image what could be done to a woman. I knew that male circumcision was not serious and sometimes done for simple reasons of hygiene. I agreed.’

‘I came to this country and we had a betrothal ceremony. I got the ring on my finger and we had a little celebration. Then his mother and elder sister told me that I had to come with them for the circumcision.’

‘I went into the separate room. It had a bench in the middle, which was covered with a white cloth. They told me to take my clothes off, which I did. I lay back on the bench, and the sister washed between my legs and shaved off all my public hair. I let my legs dangle over each side of the bench. It was not an unpleasant experience.

Then the sister in law parted my labia. My prospective mother in law pulled out my clitoris. She was firm but not violent. Suddenly, there was a ‘snip’ and I felt a stinging pain between my legs.

“Very easy and neat,’ said the mother in law. ‘You will be a good member of the family.’

Ann was smiling.

‘Don’t you miss it?’ I asked.

She looked at me, ‘What? Oh my clitoris. No, not at all. I never used it. I did not know that some girls masturbated. I didn’t and never will. I feel better this way.’

Sue returned with more tea. She put the pot down on the table and squeezed Ann’s shoulders. ‘She’s told you everything.’

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘but I’m still surprised.’

‘It excites you.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Your nipples are erect.’

I looked down and saw them pushing through my bra and blouse.

‘Come back tomorrow, and they won’t go down for a week,’ Sue said with a malicious smile.

I got a taxi back to the hotel. I kept my arms crossed in the taxi to hide my erect nipples. I had always masturbated easily, but I couldn’t that night. Everything was hard, even the walls of my vagina. I could not come.