This may be because of a fear of a negative impact on the relationship
and apprehension that the woman may lose him and the
support that he provided to her. This is known as the Equity
Theory (Walster et al. 1978), a factor noted by Weijmar
Schultz et al. (1986) and Van de Wiel et al. (1990a, b). As
one woman said ‘Well I really have to force myself to it
(intercourse). I think to myself: come on, you have to do
something for someone else now and again’ (Van de Wiel
et al. 1990a,b).
The quality of the sexual relationship between the respondent
and her husband/partner was shown to vary over time.
Andersen et al. (1988) recorded that despite difficulties with
sexual desire and excitement, the relationships were satisfactory;
this is supported by Corney et al. (1992). These findings
indicate that an assessment of a woman’s sexual relationship
should not depend totally on whether she is able to achieve
intercourse. For example Andersen et al. (1988) included
24 sexual behaviours including kissing and caressing. These
aspects need to be considered to give a more complete picture
of the effects of vulval surgery