A mother warms a large rock over hot coals and rubs it against each of the breasts of her 10-year-old daughter, and the child squirms and screams in pain. The mother repeats the process for days until the breasts look flat and almost diminished. This ritual is practiced in the United Kingdom.
Also known as breast flattening, breast ironing is one of the forms of female mutilation practiced in different African countries, particularly in Cameroon where about 50 percent of girls experience it during their pre- and early adolescence, according to United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
The ritual involves heating a spatula, hammer, coconut shell, or rock then rubbing, massaging, or pressing it to the breasts repeatedly until they look flat. The objective is to prevent young women from becoming victims of rape, sexual harassment, and other forms of sexual abuse by making sexual characteristics, such as developing breasts, less obvious.
In the UK, the ritual has been detected in London and Birmingham among African communities that brought over the tradition from their countries of origin and have passed it on to succeeding generations.
The effects of breast ironing, which range from missing breasts to tissue damage and cancer, are debilitating, contended Conservative Jake Berry, MP for Rossendale and Darwen. However, not one of the perpetrators, who are often mothers, has ever been arrested for the offense.
As it turns out, "15 percent of police forces are unaware of this barbaric practice happening in our communities, and 38 percent of the forces admitted they required more guidance to tackle it," said a post in Berry's official website.
While the UK has already passed several measures against female genital mutilation, there's no clear regulation on breast ironing, forcing the police to work on whatever existing criminal offense is available to them.
Based on the Freedom of Information request obtained by Berry, no more than 25 percent of children's services in the country know how to deal with incidents of breast ironing, although about two-thirds of them would like to be trained for it.
Berry calls on the government to "acknowledge the practice of breast ironing by giving it further recognition as a criminal offense," so the abusers will be prosecuted and the practice stopped.
He also urges the government to collaborate with healthcare facilities like hospitals, which can be requested to report cases of breast ironing to "shine a light" on the matter.
In the meantime, groups such as CAME Women and Girls Development Organisation (CAWOGIDO) have been working relentlessly against gender-based violence, such as breast ironing, helping over 1,000 women in their cause.
