SDG 5.2 Targets Harmful Practice: Breast Ironing’s Impact on Girls’ Well-being
Medical experts have condemned the ironing of breasts of girls by parents and other family members, lamenting that the harmful practice was not only a violation of their rights but also endangers their health.
The physicians said the harmful practice, mostly rooted in the north, exposes the girls to infection, breast tissue damage, poor milk production after childbirth apart from leaving them traumatised.
According to the African Health Organisation, breast ironing is a process whereby young girls’ breasts are ironed, massaged and 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.
The AHO said this cultural practice, which is predominant in the areas where child marriage is prevalent, affects 3.8 million women across Africa, noting that the practice is one of the five under-reported crimes relating to gender-based violence.
They noted that breast ironing, like female genital mutilation, was a harmful cultural practice carried out on young girls between the ages nine and 15, which leaves them with complication of breastfeeding in adulthood.
Other possible side effects include malformed breasts. The practice ranges in its severity, from using heated leaves to press and massage the breasts, to using a grinding stone to crush the budding gland. The health consequences vary from benign to acute.
