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Breast ironing, culture that defies modernism
May 29, 2024
Meanwhile, experts have described breast ironing as a form of violence against girls as it causes severe pain, tissue damage, infection and psychological trauma.
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), breast ironing practice is reported in African countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, Togo, Guinea Bissau, West and Central Africa, Chad, Benin and Guinea Conakry.
Proponents of the act say it is carried out to protect young girls from unnecessary attention, harassment, abuse, rape, abduction, and forced marriage, among others.
The age-long practice, though not as popular as it used to be in the past, is still being practised in some Nigerian communities.
Martha Sunday, a resident of Kpaduma village, Asokoro in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), said
that “the act is to protect the virtue of virgin girls.”
Sunday, who confirmed going through the process when she was 10 years old, explained that “breast ironing is done to protect young girls who are getting to puberty age from unnecessary attention.
“When the breast starts sprouting as girls reach puberty age, it attracts attention and harassment.
“It is a painful act, using a hot hard object to rigorously massage the budding breast until it dissolves.
“I still recall the pain, which has left my breast small, disfigured, with low self-esteem and difficulty in breastfeeding my babies.”
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