‘Breast ironing’ in Cameroon
By Betty Murungi and Nicholas Asego
Imagine having your breasts pounded with a hot grinding stone for hours on end everyday, for a month or two, until they flatten out and stop growing?
That’s a real possibility if you are a 12-year-old girl beginning to sprout breasts in Douala, Cameroon. It’s estimated that close to 50 per cent of women and girls around this region have had their breasts ironed to make them disappear. The practice is said to exist in all the ten provinces of Cameroon.
Statistics show that 26 per cent of Cameroonian girls undergo this practice at puberty to stop sexual advances.
Cameroon women and girls are struggling to fight this cultural practice that is equally devastating and traumatising. The very term ‘breast ironing’ conjures up imaginations and feelings that are not only horrendous but border on the bizarre.
Breast ironing is a form of body modification where mothers, aunts or older cousins flatten pubescent girl’s breasts to make them less sexually attractive to men.
Practice shrouded in silence
The breasts are flattened using heated grinding stones, wooden pestles, heated banana, coconut shell and sometimes herbs and petrol .
This practice thrives, the psychological trauma and ensuing health risks notwithstanding. The practice has prospered unknown to many because it’s shrouded in silence.
It is usually a secret between the young girl and her mother, at times the father is never aware of the happenings.
Believing that the mother is doing the best thing for her, many girls accept and suffer in silence. After the breasts have been massaged with the hot pestle, a towel is put in hot water and then tied around the girl’s chest. This can go on for two to three months to the satisfaction of the mother or whoever is doing this. Those who have undergone this practice have horrendous tales to tell.
In an interview with Inter Press Service (IPS), 11-year-old Josiane Matia recounted her chilling story. "Before this breast band, my mother used the grinding stone heated in the fire to massage my chest."
All this is aimed at reversing the development of Matia’s breasts to prevent her from becoming an object of male attention.
Raped while on the run
All her cries of pain fell on deaf ears.
Activists during a campaign against the practice wearing T-shirts with the legend - ‘Lets allow them grow naturally’.
"Although I cry hard because of the pain, she tells me: "Endure, my daughter; you are young and there is no point in having breasts at your age."
Ms Brenda Mahop, a university student in YaoundÈ, underwent the practice.
"My aunt and my mother pounded my chest everyday when I was barely 10 years old. I cried endlessly," she said in an interview with IPS.
Those who cannot bear the pain are often forced to flee at times with disastrous consequences as Ariane Elouna, 15, realised.
"Returning from school one afternoon…my aunt followed me into the room and asked: "What is that you have there, on your chest?" Elouna said.
Remaining true to tradition, Elouna’s mother heated the grinding stone and asked her to undress. "She then started rubbing my breasts vigorously," said the teenager.
"Not being able to endure the pain any longer, I fled the next day to our neighbour, and it was there that his son raped me and I fell pregnant."
A perfect case of "from the frying pan into the fire".
Many parents have no regrets
Geraldin Sirri, a student, recounted her painful experience.
"My mother took a pestle, she warmed it well in the fire and then used it to pound my breasts while I was lying down. She took the back of a coconut, warmed it in the fire and used it to iron my breasts."
Like many her age, she cried to no avail.
"I was crying and trembling to escape but there was no way."
It’s said that the path to hell is often laden with good intentions. Though many parents justify this practice saying that it is needed to prevent men from pursuing their daughters too soon and prevent early pregnancy, this attack on the girl’s sexuality can lead to breast cancer, cysts and depression.
Despite the above, the practice continues to thrive and many parents have no regrets and are not about to stop.
"Breast ironing is not a new thing. I am happy I protected my daughter. I could not stand the thought of boys spoiling her with sex before she completed school," one woman was quoted as saying.
Harmful traditional practices and reproductive rights
Cameroonian girls outside a house.
Breast ironing was first brought to light by a national network in Cameroon called Renata (RÈseau National des Associations des Tantines) — a national network of young mothers that works to see women enjoy their human rights.
During one of their meetings on harmful traditional practices and reproductive rights, it was discovered that a large number of women attending the meeting had undergone the atrocious practice.
Their report released in July last year received support from local and international audiences, creating the space for discussion on the issue.
Urgent Action Fund, a women’s rights organisation based in Kenya has been one of those who have responded are working closely with Renata in Cameroon.
One of the strategies employed against this practice include using radio and television journalists to spread information about the practice.
Leaflets and calendars also carry information on the extent of the practice and its consequences.
Like the female genital mutilation practised by some communities in Kenya, breast ironing is considered a tradition and part of culture.
