Women in central Zaire insert substances into the vagina to enhance sexual stimulation for themselves and their partners. These substances, they say, "dry" and "tighten" the vagina and thus make sexual intercourse more pleasurable. Focus-group interviews among both men and women confirmed the widespread preference for a dry vagina and revealed that more than 30 substances are used for this purpose. Most were fresh leaves gathered from local plants, whereas others were coarse powders sold in the market.