Ī 2007 journal suggested that social norms in Cameroon result in women lacking bodily autonomy, as Cameroonian women are not socialized to negotiate safer sex practices, while Cameroonian men are encouraged to engage in polygyny and to take concubines. Research suggests that 16% of girls, particularly in the far North regions where child marriages are highly common, try to flatten their own breasts in an attempt to delay early sexual maturity and early marriage. Some hypothesize that this is related to the practice of early marriage, which is more common in the north, making early sexual development irrelevant or even preferable. Compared with Cameroon's Christian and animist south, breast ironing is less common in the Muslim north, where only 10 percent of women are affected. Incidence is 53 percent in the Cameroon's southeastern region of Littoral. The survey also reported that it is most commonly practiced in urban areas, where mothers fear their daughters could be more exposed to sexual abuse. A 2006 survey by the German development agency GIZ of more than 5,000 Cameroonian girls and women between the ages of 10 and 82 estimated that nearly one in four had undergone breast ironing, corresponding to four million girls. All of Cameroon's 200 ethnic groups engage in breast ironing, with no known relation to religion, socio-economic status, or any other identifier. The practice has become commonly associated with Cameroon as a result of media attention and local levels of activism from human rights groups. Breast "sweeping" has been reported in South Africa. Additionally it has been found in other African countries including Burkina Faso, Central African Republic (CAR), Benin, and Guinea-Conakry. The breast ironing practice has been documented in Nigeria, Togo, Republic of Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. Breast massage aims to help even out different breast sizes and reduce the pain of nursing mothers by massaging the breast with warm objects, see Treatment for mastitis. History īreast ironing may be derived from the ancient practice of breast massage. The massaging process could occur anywhere between one week to several months, depending on the victim's refusal and the resistance of the breasts in cases where the breasts appear to be consistently protruding, the ironing practice may occur more than once a day for these weeks or months at a time. The ironing practice is generally performed around dusk or dawn in a private area such as the household kitchen to prevent others from seeing the victim or becoming aware of the process, particularly fathers or other male figures. Other tools used include leaves, bananas, coconut shells, grinding stones, ladles, spatulas, and hammers heated over coals. The most widely used implement for breast ironing is a wooden pestle normally used for pounding tubers. Evidence suggests that it has spread to the Cameroonian diaspora, for example to Britain, where the law defines it as child abuse. It is mostly practiced in parts of Cameroon, where boys and men may think that girls whose breasts have begun to grow are ready for sex. The practice is typically performed by a close female figure to the victim, traditionally fulfilled by a mother, grandmother, aunt, or female guardian who will say she is trying to protect the girl from sexual harassment and rape, to prevent early pregnancy that would tarnish the family name, preventing the spread of sexually transmitted infections such as HIV/AIDS, or to allow the girl to pursue education rather than be forced into early marriage. A type of body modification and harmful traditional practice Part of a series onīreast ironing, also known as breast flattening, is the pounding and massaging of a pubescent girl's breasts, using hard or heated objects, to try to make them stop developing or disappear.
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