No Roman maiden was able to preserve her virginity during participation in the celebrations in the Temples of Venus, the debauches of Venus and Mars, etc., wherein vice was authorized by divine injunction; for this reason the lips of the vagina were closed by rings of iron, copper, or silver, so joined as to hinder coitus, but not prevent evacuation.

Different sized rings were used for those of different ages.

Although this device provided against the coitus, the maiden was not free from the assaults of the Lesbians.
During the Middle Ages, in place of infibulation, chastity-girdles were used, and in the Italian girdles, such as the one exhibited in the Musee Cluny in Paris, both the anus and vulva were protected by a steel covering perforated for the evacuations.

In the Orient, particularly in India and Persia, according to old travelers, the labia were sewed together, allowing but a small opening for excretions.

Buffon and Brown mention infibulation in Abyssinia, the parts being separated by a bistoury at the time of marriage.