Clitoraid, a Las Vegas-based, non-profit organization dedicated to helping victims of female genital mutilation (FGM), just had the opportunity to spread the word about its humanitarian cause in what would seem to be a most unusual venue: The Adult Entertainment Expo (AEE) held at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas from Jan 17-19.

Clitoraid's AEE-sponsored booth was surrounded by a sea of sensual, enticing, bodacious women and men totally free of any sexual taboos, moving voluptuously among the onlookers, who came to the show for any number of reasons. Attendance was in the hundreds of thousands.

Sexual toys, accessories and apparel of all flavors, shapes and forms were everywhere. So when people walked by the Clitoraid booth, our logo must first have seemed to them like just one more sexual enhancement gimmick. That is, until the picture of the beautiful young African woman featured in the logo caught their attention.

When they stopped by the booth to see what it was all about, the Clitoraid representative explained that the organization isn't focused on "enhancing a woman's sexuality," but rather on literally restoring her sexuality surgically to undo the the horrible act of Female Genital Mutilation.

Upon hearing this and additional details, people readily reached for wallets and pocket books and gave generously to help open Clitoraid's Pleasure Hospital in West Africa later this year.

Two medical professionals, a plastic surgeon from Los Angeles and an anesthesiologist from Chicago, offered to join the volunteer team of our head surgeon, Dr. Marci Bowers. And people from other walks of life also expressed a desire to help our cause. A young porn actress asked if she could volunteer in some way for our organization, explaining that she had always dreamed of being involved in a humanitarian cause but felt stigmatized because of her profession.

Other porn actresses, including Serena Marcus and Tori Taylor, made an appearance at our booth and helped promote our cause. In addition, several UNLV students volunteered time at Clitoraid's booth. Their professor, Larry Ashley, is a volunteer sexual trauma counselor for our Clitoraid patients.
Overall, everyone's reaction was very positive, and very often moving as well, with the exception of certain members of the mainstream media. The latter advised us not to use the word "clitoris" during the videotaped interview to avoid censorship. According to them, the name "Clitoraid," and certain phrases ("the clitoris and its function" in particular) are not "family-friendly material."

Clitoraid is working to change this malevolent stigma about the clitoris worldwide. How can a U.S.- based charity like Clitoraid help women in Africa restore clitoral functioning if people right here in the West are ashamed to mention the clitoris and its role in sexual pleasure?

Clitoraid follows liberating Raelian values about nudity and sexuality advocated by spiritual leader Rael, who founded the charity. Rael has vowed to help humanity rid itself of outdated religious values that plague people's sexual lives, especially women's.

The AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, to be held at the Hard Rock Hotel Jan. 17-19, will sponsor Clitoraid, a non-profit, Las Vegas-based organization dedicated to surgically repairing the clitoris of victims of female genital mutilation (FGM).

For the 6th year in a row, the organizers of the AVN are generously donating booth space for Clitoraid to promote its humanitarian endeavor: building the first Clitoral Restoration Hospital or 'Pleasure Hospital' in the world. The hospital, in Burkina Faso, West Africa, is slated to open in October.

“FGM victims who want to have their clitoris repaired and thereby have their sexual pleasure restored will be able to do so there at no cost!” said Nadine Gary, spokesperson for Clitoraid.

She explained that, according to a barbaric tradition, millions of female children in some parts of the world – especially Africa – are forced to undergo an excruciatingly painful procedure in which the clitoris is excised.

“The act is typically carried out without anesthesia and is often performed by female relatives, themselves earlier victims of the practice,” Gary said. “Each year, millions of girls endure this brutal practice so they won’t enjoy sex and will be more likely to remain the ‘property’ of men. Up to 98 percent of all women in some African countries have been genitally mutilated.”

Gary explained that Clitoraid was founded in 2006 by Rael, Spiritual Leader of the Raelian Movement (rael.org) to address a need that no other charitable organization wanted to take on: the actual restoration of sexual pleasure for FGM victims.

“Of course, the United Nations, the World Health Organization and others educate people about the dangers of FGM, but they don’t address the desperation of the millions of already maimed victims who want to feel sexual pleasure,” Gary said. “Dr. Pierre Foldes developed the appropriate restorative surgery in the 1980's, so why don’t these organizations make this known as well?”

Answering the question, Gary said shame over female sexual pleasure stems from the dogma of several prominent world religions.

“This attitude still plagues our planet in both extreme and subtle ways,” she said. “Even humanitarian organizations are tainted with it. By contrast, Clitoraid embraces Raelian values that defend and celebrate guilt-free sexual pleasure for all women.”

It is for that reason, Gary said, that Clitoraid is receiving support from a wide range of women. They include adult video actresses Deajiha Milan and Serena Marcus, who will make appearances at the Clitoraid booth, and students of Larry Ashley, a UNLV professor and sex trauma counselor. Ashley’s students are volunteering time at the booth and have also been offering free counseling to Clitoraid's patients for the last 3 years. In addition, Ashley has been supporting the work of Clitoraid's head surgeon, Dr. Marci Bowers, who practices in San Francisco and has already operated on close to 60 FGM patients in the United States.

“Restoring a sense of dignity and pleasure is what Dr. Bowers and the other volunteer medical personnel and therapists want to offer the 400 patients now on our waiting list in West Africa,” Gary said. “Our current fund-raising drive goal is to raise the last $100,000 we need to buy the needed medical equipment and finish the pleasure hospital on time for its October inauguration date.”

“Bodily harm is against the fundamental rights of all children, and we can’t understand when a so-called civilized country such as Germany would allow its male babies to be so readily mutilated legally!" said Nadine Gary, spokesperson for Clitoraid. She was referring to male circumcision, typically performed on male infants who have no say in the matter.

Clitoraid (clitoraid.org) is the international, non-profit organization founded by Rael, spiritual leader of the Raelian Movement (rael.org), to end Female Genital Mutilation by offering free clitoral repair surgery to victims of this barbaric act. Now the organization is urging a worldwide end to genital mutilation of male children as well.

“On Nov. 28, the United Nations passed a resolution that condemns all cultural and religious arguments in favor of FGM because the act constitutes a gross violates of children rights,” Gary said. “But how can the U.N. ban Female Genital Mutilation and not denounce Male Genital Mutilation as well? Is it exempting certain religions from respecting the fundamental right of baby boys?”

Gary said that according to the World Health Organization, 30 percent of males worldwide are circumcised.

“This means billions of people have been mutilated without their consent,” Gary said.

Brigitte Boisselier, Ph.D., head of Clitoraid, affirmed that mutilation of any baby or child in the name of a god is unacceptable.

“It’s been done for centuries under the pretense that a god requested it, but no religion should be allowed to harm infants or children who can’t give informed consent,” she said. “We’re setting up a hospital in Africa that’s due to open next year, where female victims can go to have genital repair surgery for free. “And, thanks to Clitoraid, thousands more can find relief at several clinics in North America. But we’ve also been getting e-mail from hundreds of circumcised men who want to have their own mutilation undone. They need help too! So, as Rael has repeatedly stated, it’s urgent to have all the old scriptures reviewed by an independent committee on human rights so that all religious group practices are in agreement with the Declaration of Human Rights.”

By Marinella, Clitoraid coordinator in Italy

"It was the weekend of the 24th-25th of November, in occasion of the worldwide awareness day of violence against women, where Pino, Vittorio, Clitoraid volunteers here in iTaly, and I set up a fundraising stand in Voghera (Milano) in a shopping center.

We arranged a nice table with t-shirts, clitboxes, flowers, flyers, panels and a Clitoraid banner.

The fundraising was very good because we collected 735 euros!

A special thanks to Pino and Vittorio for their commitment to the goal of building the Clit-Hospital."