Breast ironing, also known as breast flattening or breast sweeping, is a harmful traditional practice primarily associated with Cameroon but documented in other African countries as well.
Map of Cameroon
Prevalence and Geographic Distribution
The practice has become commonly associated with Cameroon as a result of media attention and local levels of activism from human rights groups. 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 breast ironing practice has been documented in Nigeria, Togo, Republic of Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. Additionally it has been found in other African countries, including Burkina Faso, Central African Republic (CAR), Benin, and Guinea-Conakry. Breast "sweeping" has been reported in South Africa.
Evidence suggests that it has spread to the Cameroonian diaspora, for example to Britain, where the law defines it as child abuse.
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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.
Motivations Behind the Practice
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. By “ironing” their daughters’ breasts, mothers in Cameroon hope to make their daughters less sexually attractive to men, staving off early marriage and pregnancy, and keeping them in school, Newsweek reported.
In an interview, one human rights activist stated that parents who resist under-aged marriages "usually point to the fact that the girlʼs breasts have not grown meaning that she is not yet ready for sexual intercourse.
A 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. This lack of bodily autonomy contributes to an increased incidence of breast ironing, sexual coercion, and the normalization of early marriage practices.
A 2008 report suggested that the rise in the incidence of breast ironing is due to the earlier onset of puberty, caused by dietary improvements in Cameroon over the previous 50 years. Half of Cameroonian girls who develop under the age of nine have their breasts ironed, and 38% of those who develop before eleven.
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Additionally, since 1976, the percentage of women married by the age of 19 has decreased from nearly 50% to 20%, leading to an increasingly long gap between childhood and marriage.
Breast ironing - A survivor's story
Methods and Tools Used
The most widely used implement for breast ironing is a wooden pestle normally used for pounding tubers.
The practice ranges dramatically in its severity, from using heated leaves to press and massage the breasts, to using a scalding grinding stone to crush the budding gland.
Pestle and Mortar
Health Consequences and Risks
Breast ironing is extremely painful and can cause tissue damage. As of 2006, there have been no medical studies on its effects. However, medical experts warn that it might contribute toward breast cancer, cysts and depression, and perhaps interfere with breastfeeding later.
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In addition to this, breast ironing puts girls at risk of abscesses, cysts, infections, and permanent tissue damage, resulting in breast pimples, imbalance in breast size, and milk infection from scarring. In extreme cases of damage, there are currently ten cases of diagnosed breast cancer reported from women who identified as victims of breast ironing.
Other possible side effects reported by GIZ include malformed breasts and the eradication of one or both breasts.
Breast ironing can cause women to fear sexual activity. Many women also suffer mental trauma after undergoing breast ironing.
As well as being dangerous, breast ironing is criticised as being ineffective for stopping early sex and pregnancy.
Efforts to Combat Breast Ironing
Some survivors of “breast ironing” have made it their mission to educate Cameroonian women about its harmful effects to discourage them from continuing the practice, CBS reported. Cameroon has yet to pass against the “traditional harmful practice,” according to Gender Empowerment and Development (GeED) a Cameroon-based organization.
When girls and women are seen as equals and are empowered to make choices for themselves, choices that are respected by those around them, the need to “protect” girls through “breast ironing” will be eliminated.
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