The rationale is to prevent girls from developing breasts between 11 and 15 years old in the belief that a flat childlike appearance will discourage unwanted male attention and premarital pregnancy.
The mother often warrants the ritual, removing signs of puberty, so her daughter can pursue education for longer rather than being seen as ‘ready for marriage’.
However, much like FGM (Female Genital Mutilation), breast ironing is widely considered to be just another form of hidden abuse.
Writer Leyla Hussein told Cosmopolitan: ‘Destroying a woman’s or girl’s breasts in this way can take anything from a couple of days to a few weeks.
‘The words “culture”, “tradition” or “religion” might come up when trying to explain this absurdly harmful practice, but as in the case of FGM, these words are only thinly veiled excuses.’
She underwent FGM for her ‘safety’ and believes it is ‘absurd’ that women’s bodies are not ‘considered safe in their natural states’.
London-based charity Women’s and Girl’s Development Organisation (Cawogido) works with the police, social services, health and schools to raise awareness of breast ironing in the UK and Cameroon.
Their website states: ‘Breast ironing is a well-kept secret between the young girl and her mother. Often the father remains completely unaware.
‘The girl believes that what her mother is doing is for her own good and she keeps silent. This silence perpetuates the phenomenon and all of its consequences.’
While also suppressing development, breast ironing also exposes girls to numerous health problems such as cancer, abscesses, itching, and discharge of milk, infection and dissymmetry of the breasts.
Girls are also likely to experience cysts, breast infections, severe fever, tissue damage and even the complete disappearance of one or both breasts.
It is also believed by many to be futile when it comes to deterring sexual activity.
Rather than using stones or torturous implements such as hammers, rich families prefer to use an elastic belt to press the small paps to prevent them from growing.
While awareness of FGM is at an all time high in the UK, campaigners warn that there are still many other forms of sexual violence being used against women around the world.
So far there have been no prosecutions relating to breast ironing in the UK but as awareness increases, there is more pressure on governments to take action.
The charity added: ‘Adolescents are traumatised, mutilated. This is a serious damage not only on their physical integrity, but also on their social and psychological well being. And we must stop it.’
