The absurdly harmful traditional
practice of ‘breast ironing’ is on a fast rise across the globe, and is
giving some concerned persons a serious cause for concern.
Breast ironing is a horrific practice
where young girls are beaten with hot irons on the chests to hamper the
growth of their breasts.
This practice is believed to be a way of
protecting young girls from rape since the sight of their developing
organs could stir some men to forcefully gain carnal knowledge of them.
According to the UK National Committee for UN Women, the fast-rising abusive practice has affected about 3.8million women and girls globally.
The practice which is common in
countries like Cameroon, Nigeria and South Africa, is already being
observed in the UK and thousands of girls are also at risk, Metro UK reports.
An activist and FGM survivor, Leyla Hussein has spoken out about the ‘absurdly harmful’ breast ironing ritual in a blog for Cosmopolitan.
He wrote: “The words ‘culture,’
‘tradition’ or ‘religion’ might come up when trying to explain this
absurdly harmful practice, but as in the case of FGM, these words are
only thinly veiled excuses.
“Breast ironing is just another way to
control a woman’s sexuality and perceived attractiveness. Breasts become
a dangerous body part that must be removed in case they attract male
attention, as if removing all signs of femininity from a girl’s body
could protect her from being raped.
“I underwent FGM for my ‘safety’ too.
What an absurd world we live in when women’s bodies are not considered
safe in their natural state, and men are not considered responsible for
controlling their own urges.”
The ordeal can take anything from a
couple of days to a few weeks, and in around 58 per cent of cases it’s
carried out by the victim’s mother.
According to a UK-based charity Cawogido,
which campaigns to raise awareness of both breast ironing and FGM, the
practice has consequences such as cancer, abscesses, infection, cysts.
In some cases, the ‘traditional’ practice could lead to a complete disappearance of one or both breasts.
Cawogido wrote: “The girl believes that
what her mother is doing is for her own good and she keeps silent. This
silence perpetuates the phenomenon and all of its consequences.”
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