Recently, officers of the Nigeria Police in Lagos State arrested a man identified as Adegboyega for brutalising his eight-year-old daughter following early signs of puberty.

The victim’s left breast was completely cut off by her father after he reportedly used a hot stone to massage his daughter’s breast to stop it from growing.

Sadly, this is the ordeal many young girls are subjected to by their parents, especially mothers, in an attempt to stop the girls’ breasts from growing so as not to attract men.

Breast ironing is the process whereby young pubescent girls’, usually aged between 9 and 15 years old, are most at risk of this practice.

Breasts are ironed, massaged and/or pounded down through the use of hard or heated objects in order for the breasts to disappear or delay the development of the breasts entirely.

Some of the instruments used in carrying out this barbaric practice include hot stones, hammer, spatulas, head of a broom and many others.

It is believed that many boys and men consider girls, whose breasts have grown, ready to have sex.

So, some parents believe that by carrying out this act, their young daughters would be protected from harassment, rape, abduction and early forced marriage and, therefore, be kept in education.

Findings have shown that parents who indulge in this practice do it with the wrong notion that they are doing their daughters a huge favour by saving them from problems with unimaginable consequences.

Prevalence

Though breast ironing is said to have originated in Cameroon, it is also prevalent in Nigeria and other African countries such as Benin, Ivory Coast Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Togo, Zimbabwe and Guinea-Conakry.

According to the United Nations (UN) data, the practice affects 3.8 million women around the world and has been identified as one of the five under-reported crimes relating to gender-based violence.

Sylvia Chioma, Coordinator of the Girdle Advocacy Projects, whose specialty is to sensitize people on the harms of breast ironing, said the practice is very prevalent in Nigeria.

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“It is very rampant”, she said, “but the issue is that it is under-reported or never-reported because it is considered a tradition. Hence, many victims often stomach the pain and remain silent because they have been indoctrinated that the practice is done for their own protection.

“However, unlike what most people believe that it is not a Nigeria-thing, the fact is, it has happened, and still happening in Nigeria. Whenever we talk about breast ironing in our platforms, we see many Nigerian women recounting their experiences.”

Misguided intention

According to her, breast ironing is carried out with the misguided intention of protecting girls from men’s sexual harassment. “I’m always of the opinion that the motive to protect girls in the society is right but the methods or traditions are barbaric and senseless”, she added.

Obianujunwa and Faith, victims of breast ironing, who shared their traumatic experiences with Sunday Vanguard, confirmed that they were told the exercise was for their good.

They also confirmed that their fathers were aware of the exercise but never intervened in any way.

“My case wasn’t exactly ironing because I didn’t deal with a hot object but with the head of a broom”, said Obianujunwa. “My mother used the head of a broom to press my breasts every morning before I leave for school. It was very painful but she said it was for my good. It happened when I was ten years old and in primary six”, she narrated.

Painful experience

“When I was in so much pain, I would constantly hear my mum say it was for my good and it was for my breast not to be too voluminous because, according to her, ten years is an early age to start growing breasts. Till this date, I have not had an experience that was as painful as that and I don’t even know how to equate it. It was very painful. The girls can relate a bit, you know, when a girl starts growing breasts, it is normally painful, now, imagine someone forcefully pressing a hard object there?

On whether her father was aware of her predicament, she answered in affirmative. “Yes, he was very much aware of it but trust me, they were doing what they thought was the best for me. So the intention wasn’t to maltreat me and I really don’t resent them. I am just grateful that they realized on time and that my younger ones didn’t go through the same procedure”, she replied.

For Faith, it was her aunt who ironed her breasts. “Mine was a different technique, more like using hot water to massage a swollen area. I was about nine years old and it was my aunt that did it. She told me it was to reduce the breasts so they don’t get too big as I grow up. I think my father was aware but he didn’t say anything”, she stated.

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But Aisha, resident in Abuja, was alarmed that some people still subject innocent girls to this cruel practice. “Growing up, I had a couple of schoolmates and friends whose mothers did this to them mostly during puberty. I just don’t want to believe that some people still practice this”, she stated.

More problems than solutions

Many parents are often unaware of the many negative health and psychological consequences of breast ironing. Experts say breast ironing is very harmful. According to a medical practitioner and Chairman of JOFA Global Foundation, a charity, Dr. Obinna Oke, breasts ironing exposes girls to numerous health problems such as cancer, abscesses, itching, discharge of milk, cysts, breast infections and tissue damage among many others.

Aside from the health risks, the practice seriously damages a child’s physical integrity; social and psychological well-being. Most of the victims have been reported to suffer from depression, low self-esteem, etc.

Dashed Dreams

“It affected me mentally”, Obianujunwa revealed. “My breasts have never been like a normal person’s own from a very young age. My breasts never grew perky; people always make remarks about my breasts. Growing up as a child, I wasn’t promiscuous but everyone complained my breasts were fallen. I cried for days, although then I didn’t know the cause for it”, she told Sunday Vanguard.

“I was so insecure about my breasts, and it really affected my self-confidence but I finally got to accept it. As a child, I always wanted to be a model but I haven’t had the confidence to brace the world with it yet because I have never seen a model with breasts like mine. No child should go through that much pain.”

Also, Ola, whose wife was a victim of breast ironing, noted that he did not believe his spouse when she shared her experience with him.

“I thought she was telling lies when she told me her story. My wife is very beautiful, with curves but always wants to make love at night with the light off and always feels insecure. She experiences pains during breastfeeding and the milk doesn’t flow properly. This is pure evil”, he said.

Does breast ironing stop young girls from being sexually molested or prevent unwanted pregnancy? “No”, answered Chioma. “Ironing the breast does not really safeguard the female minors that are subjected to it because we have heard and seen cases of men who raped babies and girls below seven years old – would you say their ‘flat chest’ lured men to them?” she said.

“The emphasis”, the activist explained, “should be on enlightening boys and men to not rape or sexually abuse or violate girls or women. Imagine what a girl-child goes through all because of some men who can’t control themselves. I think parents should focus on training their boy-child well. We should hold the bull by its horn by holding men accountable for sexual abuse instead of blaming girls or their bodies for it.”

Tackling the Scourge

What kinds of support do the victims need? The Girdle Advocacy Coordinator suggested a more penetrative and convincing approach to curb the ugly trend.

“The main key is education. I suggest the next generation of mothers who are girls today, be comprehensively taught about their rights and how their bodies work and what shouldn’t be done to their bodies in the guise of safeguarding them”, Chioma said.

“This is not to say I’ve lost hope in this generation of mothers; as for them, we should hit more on community sensitization and awareness, enlightening, not condemning, on the consequences of breast ironing and other harmful traditional practices on girls and women.

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“As an NGO, our specialty is to sensitize people on the harms of breast ironing but when it comes to the therapeutic angle, this is where the health workers and professionals come in. Medical practitioners, the WHO, government bodies and other stakeholders should be organizing health talks and outreach to people especially those in rural communities, teaching them about this early and rapid growth that occurs in these teenagers.

“I think they should lead the charge because people tend to believe and listen to them more than advocates”.

Similarly, Obianujunwa called for an increase in sensitisation and awareness programmes. According to her, this would bring closure to victims. “Until recently, I didn’t realize the dangers that practice caused me. I didn’t even know it was the reason why my breasts turned the way they did and having this discussion gave me closure and the answers to my many questions”, the survivor said.

“I know there are people like me out there who felt the same way as I did and need answers too. The awareness would also make the mothers know the implications of what they are doing and wouldn’t subject their kids to that much pain”.

Enabling Law

In Nigeria, there is no specific law concerning breast ironing; however, because it is classified as physical abuse, offenders are prosecuted under existing laws that protect the rights of women and girls. Section 360 of the Criminal Code states: “Any person who unlawfully and indecently assaults a woman or girl is guilty of misdemeanor and is liable to imprisonment for two years.”

More so, Section 5, Subsection 1 of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act 2015, states: “A person who willfully or knowingly places a person in fear of physical injury commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years or a fine not exceeding 200,000 naira or both.”

Meanwhile, states are not left out in the fight against abuse of the girl-child. For example, 34 of the 36 states of the federation have fully domesticated the Child Rights Act, a law that deals with issues of child abuse, child labour and forced marriage, among others, in the country.

Recall that Nigeria adopted the Child Rights Act to domesticate the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 2003. The Children’s Rights Act of 2003 expands the human rights bestowed to citizens in Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended) to children. Although this law was passed at the federal level, it is only effective if State Assemblies also codify it.

Though government has enough laws that protect the girl-child, there is a need to review some of the laws to reflect breast ironing as a form of gender-based violence. Government should also step up the implementation of these laws to ensure that abusers are diligently prosecuted.
VANGUARD