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Mwambo Kate COO @ Enchird Technolog...
city Yaoundé, Cameroon
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In Africa • 2 min read • Mar 14, 2023 15:08p.m.
BREAST IRONING

<span class="html-content"><p>Ever heard of the breast ironing practice? well, I am from Cameroon and we have strong ties to it. Africans may brag about having the most beautiful culture but we also had the wildest practices.</p> <p>Breast ironing refers to the painful practice of massaging or pounding the breast of young girls with heated objects to suppress or reverse breast growth. It is a practice that has been documented in Cameroon, but is also practiced in Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Togo, Benin and Guinea.</p> <p>This practice is often done by mothers or relatives of victims with hope that flattening the breast will delay maturity or make it invisible and subsequently protect these young girls from rape and early marriages. They believe that when girls approach puberty as early as seven years with breasts, men will think they are ready to have sex.</p> <p>They use heating tools such as stones, spatulas and pestles to hammer or massage the breasts, in order to prevent them from growing. Other tools also used include : banana leaves, coconut shells, grindstones, ladles and hammers heated over coals. Mothers even go as far as wrapping bandages tightly around their daughter's breasts and occasionally , magic is used. In Cote d'Ivoire, brooms are sometimes used to make the breasts leave.</p> <p>These heating tools often leave scars and injuries leaving &nbsp;girls more vulnerable to infection and complications later in life. Some women whose breasts have been "Ironed" have reported difficulties in producing milk and breastfeeding their children later in life. Some women end up having one breast bigger than the other accompanied with constant pain.</p> <p>This violent practice against young girls who are just starting to grow up, have dreams and hopes, is not seen as negative. It is believed that mothers do it for a 'good' reason which is to protect their daughters and is a way of showing their love and care.</p> <p>Well, instead of subjecting young women through this pain, why not use that energy to educate our young men and instill good values in them?</p> <p>Let me know your thoughts on this practice in the comment section.</p> </span>

Anita Koske

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