Prise en charge sexologique des femmes excisées : expérience nantaise, France. Étude préliminaire

The consequences of female genital mutilation on women's health are diverse and influence their sexuality in all its aspects. The surgical repair of female genital mutilation could potentially improve the quality of their sexual life, especially functionally, and may reduce pain, but there are only a few reports of this, and surgery is not systematically recommended. This preliminary study describes sexological support for women who have suffered sexual mutilation, with multidisciplinary care as practiced in Nantes hospital. We also investigated whether there was any specific feature to the sexological contribution via multidisciplinary care of female genital mutilation. This evaluation was carried out among 27 women who had received surgical and/or sexological care following sexual mutilation between 2011 and 2015 at Nantes teaching hospital. The results obtained, using a multidimensional assessment of their sexuality, demonstrated a potential role for surgery on sexual functionality, aesthetics and the symbolism of reparation. Sexological care may contribute more specifically to the verbalization around the experience and the consequences of circumcision, to the development of the surgical plan, to the knowledge and education on sexuality in order to allow for the restoration of the sensual and sexual functions along with self-esteem.