Breast ironing is a procedure of getting
a girl's breast's "pressed or flattened" by her mom in a bid to
prevent them from developing with the goal that they won't attract male
attention. It is the brutal flattening of a young girl’s developing chest to ‘protect
her from rape and sexual harassment. The individuals who actualize the practice
have a tendency to trust it will prevent a girl from being assaulted and that
it is for her 'safety'. It is the process using objects like large stones,
hammers or spatulas that has been heated over hot coals to compress or mutilate
the breast tissue and make the adolescent look less ‘womanly’.
1. Breast ironing is practiced
throughout Cameroon and has also been reported across West and Central Africa,
in Benin, Chad, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry, Kenya, Togo,
Nigeria and Zimbabwe. In South Africa, a similar practice is known as “breast
sweeping”.
2. It has also been alleged that the
practice is also carried out in some parts of Britain since there is no Law that
stops parent from ironing the breast of their daughter(s). It is estimated
thousands of girls in African communities in London, Birmingham, Manchester,
Luton, Nottingham, Leicester, Sheffield and Leeds may be exposed to the ritual,
which usually happens in the family home.
3. According to a Cameroonian doctor
Flavien Ndonko he said: “Breast ironing is both physically and psychologically
damaging. It can cause infections and abscesses and has been linked to breast
cancer, problems with breastfeeding, and severe depression.”
4. It has also been claimed that
breast ironing has not stopped teenage pregnancy in the areas where this
practice is carried out, for example the case of Cathy who underwent breast
ironing for the first time at the age of ten, it did not however stop her from
getting pregnant at the age of 16 and leaving school.
5. The United Nation estimates the
perpetrators of these acts are the mothers of the victims.
MY VIEW
Ironing a female’s breast to prevent sexual
assault from boys is an assault on its own. From all indications, it does more
harm than good so why engage in it when it won’t even serve as a deterrent to
the fear those who engage in are trying to avoid?
It has been noted that while
suppressing the development of the breast, it also exposes the girl child to
numerous health implications such as dis-symmetry of the breast, infections,
cancer itching, discharge of milk and lots more.
The victims are most likely to
experience cysts, severe fever, tissue damage and disappearance of one or both
breasts, to make matter worse, it does not stop sexual activity, any girl child
who will engage in sexual promiscuity will still do it irrespective of what her
getting her breast ironed or not. It is better to give sex education to their
child as early as possible. Breast ironing cannot replace sex education, lay a
good foundation rather than give the girl child a permanent cross to bear.
Reference; nairaland.com
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