Introduction:

Masturbation is a topic that contains multiple messages, both culturally negative and positive for sexology. This diversity becomes a window to explore female sexuality.

Objective:

To establish the prevalence of female masturbation among university students from the metropolitan area ofBucaramanga, Colombia.

Materials and methods:

Descriptive cross-sectional study using a self-report questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential analysis was performed finding a significance level of p<0.05.

Results:

1 039 women were surveyed (median age: 20, IQR: 4). The prevalence ofmasturbation was 32.2%, of which only 73.1% reached orgasm through this stimulation. 1 in 3 women who do not masturbate reported anorgasmia. Masturbation was more frequent in women >35 years of age, from high socioeconomic status, non-religious or Catholic with little or no religiousness, who study, work independently and self-identify as bisexual.

Conclusions:

1 in 3 women who claim that they do not masturbate reported orgasmic dysfunction; therefore, masturbatory activities are a protective factor for the dysfunction. Providing self-exploration education is important so that women can get to know their body and fully enjoy their sexuality.

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