Women support male circumcision

Tebogo Kgalemang
Correspondent | Friday December 17, 2010 00:00

Most women Mmegi interviewed have encouraged men to undergo safe male circumcision as they (women) will also benefit from the exercise.

A student at the Francistown Institution of Health Sciences (HIS), Amuchilani Makgetho, 20, said all men should undergo SMC.

'As a woman I believe it is a good thing for them to do. The foreskin absorbs a lot of bacteria if it is not cleaned properly, thus leading to infections, which can also be passed on to women. So, circumcision reduces chances of somebody getting infected.' Makgetho says the foreskin accumulates some urine in it, which ends up causing bacteria. She would love to see women who give birth to male children to have them circumcised at an early age.

She says though there is pain it is better doing it at a tender age because the skin will still be soft.

She encourages parents not to wait for the children to make their own choices when they are old because they might be scared of the pain.

According to Makgetho, Botswana should benchmark views on SMC from other countries and religions.

'I believe most of Batswana are Christians. Others like Muslims do SMC as a tradition and we do not have that here, which is why it is being emphasized in this era of HIV and AIDS,' she said. She proposed that people should not stick to their own traditional beliefs and practices.

'We can copy from other people and move on. We learn from other people after all.'

For 26-year-old Onneile Setlalekgosi of Mochudi, SMC can also help reduce infidelity among couples.

'I have heard that a circumcised man tends to be more powerful than the one who is uncircumcised. And I do not see why a woman would want to cheat on her partner who satisfies her sexually,' stated Setlalekgosi.

Setlalekgosi added that men should get circumcised because most of them do not believe in the use of condoms, hence being exposed to many sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

She says if men get infected somewhere, they can easily pass the infection to women during sexual intercourse.

She stated that if the foreskin was cut the infections would have no space to hide. She however encouraged men to use a condom even after circumcisionAnd 22-year-old Kgotsofatsang Ralekuate of Naledi location in Gaborone says she would love to see all men circumcised.

'It will benefit us as women because if your boyfriend is some how unfaithful, his chances of getting infected will be low compared to when he is not circumcised.' She said uncircumcised men put their partners at great risk of contracting diseases since the foreskin absorbs many infections.

For 25-year-old Tsogo Olefile of Bluetown location in Francistown, SMC is a good thing because she believes women would not be exposed to infections. She says as women they can try by all means to avoid STIs but if men do not undergo SMC it will not help, as the male foreskin is very sensitive to infections.

'I can try to stay safe but if the man's foreskin attracts infections it will not help,' she said.

Tsogo plans to take her eight-month-old baby for circumcision during this Christmas.

Speaking to some men who had undergone SMC, one Mogomotsi Buzwani stated that women seem to enjoy circumcised men. He says the feedback he gets from his female friends shows that they love circumcised men.

Buzwani, who got circumcised at the age of 22, says he has experienced a big difference in the three years following circumcision.

'Honestly, you can not bathe properly when you have a foreskin. It attracts a lot of infections in a short time no matter how many times you take a bath in a day. And some men are very lazy that they would spend a day without taking a bath,' he lamented.He further says that he always tries to advise other men to get circumcised, but they would not listen, arguing that they would not want to change what God had created.

'By the time I went to do it I tried to talk my other friend into doing the same, but he refused and laughed at me.

Two days when I came back from the operation he had some rash on the foreskin and I told him that chances of getting the infection would have being low if he had undergone SMC,' he said.

Buzwani performed SMC because for two weeks he had been experiencing some discomfort on his private parts.

He says the itching was not severe, but he spent most of the time scratching himself, which was very annoying.

'I went to Block 8 clinic in Gaborone where I was advised by a doctor to undergo SMC. He told me the itching was caused by not bathing properly. I never looked back. I registered my name for the operation,' he narrated adding that the six-month period he spent after the operation was fine. He said he followed all the instructions until the wound healed. 

SMC is defined as the surgical removal of the foreskin covering the head of the penis.

Culturally, male circumcision was viewed as a right passage into manhood whereas clinically the foreskin is associated with dirt.

Speaking to Patrick Keipone of True Men in Francistown, in the past SMC was discouraged because it was believed to have no benefits. 'It was believed to be unethical and unsafe as it was associated with bleeding, infection and deaths'.

It was, however, in 2007 that the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNIAIDS, and in 2008 CDC, international expert consultation on SMC and HIV prevention concluded that there is unfolding evidence on SMC.

The randomized controlled trials undertaken in Kenya, South Africa and Uganda revealed that SMC reduces the risk of heterosexual transmission of HIV infection from women to men by approximately 60 percent.

True Men team leather Keipone says although the results of these trials are highly significant, it is essential to emphasise that SMC does not provide complete protection against HIV/AIDS. 'Furthermore HIV infected circumcised men can still transmit HIV to female sexual partners,' he advised.

Researches have proven that SMC lowers risks of sexually transmitted infections and the urinary tract in children.

It also prevents swelling of the rounded head of the penis as well as swelling of the foreskin.