WHEN I first read something about Breast Ironing, I couldn't believe that such a thing is actually happening in this beautiful, challenging and wonderful world of ours. The initial encounter challenge me to prove deeper into the subject. I buckled down to do research. So I log on to the internet to get the details of this bizarre thing. I have had a brimful insights of the subject matter after the research and here is a concrete example of what Breast Ironing is.

Thirteen-year old Geraldine Mbalor was in tears when she recounted her ordeal: "I had just finished doing my homework when my mother summoned me to the kitchen. She boiled water and in the water she put a grinding stone. She then removed the stone holding it with a thick cloth to protect her hands and placed it in my breast and started ironing them. I felt so much pain that I started crying. After that she bandaged my breasts with breast-band. She did this to me for 2 and 1/2 months".

Wikipedia defines Breast Ironing this way. It "is a form of breast reduction in which a pubescent girl's breast are flattened with a heated object, usually by the girl's mother in an attempt to make her less sexually attractive to men".

Breast Ironing is a traditional practice which was handed down from one generation to another. It is practiced in West and Central Africa, particularly in Cameroon, Chad, Togo, Benin and Ginea-Conakry. Statistics show that 26% of Cameroonian girls at puberty age undergo Breast Ironing. Mothers believe it protects their daughters from sexual advances of boys and men who think children are ripe for sex once their breasts begin to grow..

Like doctors and other health officers, Breast Ironing practitioners- usually mothers and relatives- have likewise their own tools which consists of the following: grinding stones, hammers, pestles, spatulas, bananas, coconut shells and towels (soaked in hot water). Depending on the kind of tool used, the tool is heated first directly on fire or soaked in boiling water before it is used to iron and flatten the breasts. The repeated process of pressing and rolling the tool over the breasts may take a number of minutes. Meanwhile- the girl-patient, in obedience to her mother- grimaced with pain and silently sobbed while undergoing the pounding and massaging process. The ironing session may run up to 2 months

Let's pause for a moment to listen to the sad experience of a 14-year old- Amelia. Her breasts started developing when she was nine. Her elder sister decided to massage them every evening with a towel soaked in hot water. "This was very painful and every evening before I slept she would put a big elastic bell well fastened round my chest to flatten my breasts. Six months later the flesh which held my breasts were already weak. At 10, I already had fallen breasts and each time I undress I'm ashamed ..."

There is little research done on the ill-effects of breast ironing. But it is generally accepted that this age-old practice causes: 1] tissue damage plus the pain of the ironing process, 2] breast infections, 3] formation of blisters and abscesses, 4] breast cancer, 5] malformed breasts, 6] complete eradication of one or both breasts and 7] can inhibit or prevent successful breast feeding.

To consolidate these are the main reasons why this traditional practice of Breast Ironing proliferates in countries named above: It 1] stunts breast growth in girls, 2] lessens sexual attractiveness, 3] onset of puberty could provoke sexual harassment, 4] inhibit their daughters studies, 5] stunts their growth and 6] prevents early marriage.

Indeed there are local societies that addressed the welfare of the people there, but why were they silent about breast ironing. Let's listen to their reasons as revealed in the survey: 1] It was thought to be good for the girls like other harmful practices done to women, such as FGC [Female Genital Cutting] and 2] even victims themselves thought and admitted it was good for them.

The German Development Agency, GTZ conducted a survey which reveals that nearly one in four or 4 million girls in Cameroon alone had undergone breast ironing. The survey covered girls and women between the age of ten and 82. Thereupon, the said agency together with a local non-government organization called RENATA launched an awareness campaign to address the problem . Through assemblies, meetings and other campaign strategies , they "warned that using the practice (breast ironing) to retard natural physical development is dangerous as well as ineffective".

According to Flavien Ndonko, an anthropologist attached to GTZ's German-Cameroon HIV-AIDS Health Programme, the "campaign has generated a lot of discussion and the practice is now openly talked about and ask why it is being done. As there is no way to justify it, they realize that it is a futile process and- hopefully- they will stop doing it".

However the awareness campaign faced a rough sailing. Addressing the general lack of education about sex in the family ran counter to acceptable social norms, GTZ and RENATA pointed out. Explained Bessem Arrey Ebanga Bisong, Executive Secretary of RENATA, "Because the topic of sex was taboo young girls remained ignorant of how to prevent themselves from HIV infections and were even more vulnerable to the virus". One neighbor volunteered to say, "We don't have a dialog with our children. We don't have the courage to do so".   A woman who requested anonymity, admitted that breast ironing was not a good solution.  " I did it to my first 2 daughters out of ignorance"

An appraisal survey was made to determine the pros and cons of the problem. It revealed an evenly balanced result: 39% opposed it; 41% expressed support and 26% were indifferent.

Ndonko didn't express dissatisfaction over the result of the survey. He reasoned out, "If nothing was done today, tomorrow the very parents may even resolve to slice off the nose, the mouth or any part of the girl which they think is making her attractive to men".