Dry sex is a sexual practice of people having sexual intercourse

Sexual intercourse

Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...

 with the woman not having vaginal lubrication

Vaginal lubrication

Vaginal lubrication is a lubricating fluid that is naturally produced in a woman's vagina. Vaginal lubrication or moistness is present at all times, but production increases significantly during a woman's sexual arousal in anticipation of sexual intercourse...

. Vaginal lubrication can be removed by using herbal aphrodisiacs, household detergents, antiseptics, by wiping out the vagina, or by placing leaves in the vagina besides other methods.

The concept of the practice is that a dry vagina

Vagina

The vagina is a fibromuscular tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. Female insects and other invertebrates also have a vagina, which is the terminal part of the...

 makes the vagina tight, which is supposed to increase sexual pleasure for the man. Some men who insist on dry sex regard "wet" women to be unchaste. However, dry sex is very painful for the woman. Dry sex is common in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...

 and it has also been reported in Suriname

Suriname

Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...

 among Afro-Surinamese women.

Health risks

The practice has been linked to the high incidence of HIV/AIDS infection in Sub-Saharan Africa. The practice is regarded as increasing the risk of transmitting sexually transmitted disease

Sexually transmitted disease

Sexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...

s (STDs) for both partners, including HIV in a number of ways. For example, the lack of lubrication causes lacerations in vaginal tissue, which increases the risk of HIV transmission . Drying the vagina also removes the natural antiseptic lactobacilli which can combat sexually transmitted diseases. Furthermore, dry sex increases the risk that a condom

Condom

A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...

will break because of the increased friction. It may also result in vaginal inflammation and/or traumatic lesions which in turn may increase the transmission of STDs in other ways.