Dry sex is a practice where women reduce moisture in their vaginas in order to make intercourse more pleasurable for men.
This according to reports can lead to cuts, sores and inflammation in the vagina, and increases the chance of a condom breaking.
These factors in turn increase the chance of the women contracting sexually transmitted diseases including HIV.
It is borne out of a cultural belief that men find sex more pleasurable if a woman’s vagina is dry, and that men will reject women whose vaginas have been‘stretched out’by sex.
To achieve dryness, women insert, chalk, sand, pulverized rock, herbs, paper or sponges before sex, according to journalist Ms Syfret, who has reported on the practice in South Africa.
They also douse their vaginas in detergents, antiseptics, alcohol and bleach.
Women in Java, Indonesia, even ‘smoke out’ their vaginas by standing over burning herbs,LoveMattersreports.
In other areas of Indonesia it is common to insert a cigar-shaped stick made of a plant root.
Similarly, a sexual health clinician and campaigner in South Africa toldVICEmost people are aware of the problem but it is not talked about, and hasn’t received enough attention from the country’s Government for policies to be drafted.
Dr Marlene Wasserman, commonly known in South Africa as Dr Eve, said the continued practice of dry sex shows the lack of education relating to equality and women’s rights in the area.
‘It’s definitely a class issue,’she toldVICE.
‘Basically, a woman’s reputation depends on the size of her vagina.
‘Among women who are less informed and less educated, there’s an unbelievable ignorance around the idea the vagina adapts to the penis.’
She explained that both men and women fail to understand that the vagina is capable of expanding during sex – and then back to its usual size afterwards.
There is also an incorrect cultural belief that if a woman has a partner with a large penis, her vagina will remain permanently ‘stretched’ – and future partners will think she is promiscuous.
The practice is ingrained in culture, passed between generations of women, she added.
She continued:‘Men aren’t saying to women, “Put Dettol in your vagina”.’
Instead, they insinuate a woman is promiscuous due to the state of her genitalia, she explained.
For women dependent on their boyfriends or husbands, attaining commitment and pleasing them is extremely important.
The idea that pain is normal or acceptable during sex has taken hold, she adds, and most women in South Africa would not think of sexual pleasure as something they necessarily have a right to.
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