What is the "ironing of the sinuses", the painful and humiliating method that they apply to little girls to prevent them from being abused

A humiliating and painful practice has sparked controversy around the world: it is "ironing the chest", which is done on underage girls to prevent them from being badually abused.

This brutal ritual consists of flattening the bust of girls with stones, pans and even hot plates, with the aim of "not to arouse the interest of men".

In this way, young women can not develop normally. The scariest thing is that the girls think it's for their good and that they accept despite the pain.

Young women face damage such as infections, cysts, deformities or destruction of the mammary glands, which makes future badfeeding impossible.

The practice is native to West Africa, although in recent years it has spread to some European countries. Even from the UK, ask for awareness courses on the subject, said BBC journalist Amber Haque.

Haque collected the testimony of a young woman who lives there and her mother applied this method at the age of ten: "They would not let me complain, but it hurt them a lot", recalled Kinaya (fictitious name) in dialogue with BBC Mundo.

In this sense, she explained that her mother had forced her: "She said to me," If you do not do it, the men will start chasing you to have bad with you. "They did not allow us to cry, if so, then they told you that you would shame your family, that you were not a strong woman."

A form of child abuse: a "hidden crime".

The years have pbaded and Kinaya now has two daughters and her grandmother wanted to apply the same method to one of her granddaughters. Upon learning this, he went very far to avoid his mother's torture: "I immediately said no, none of my daughters would go through that, I still live the trauma of that time."

According to the German development agency GIZ, one in 10 women in Cameroon suffered from "bad ironing". In addition, the UN said that about 3.8 million young people and girls in the world, mainly in Cameroon and Nigeria, have been victims of this ritual.

In wealthier families, instead of using hot items, an elastic strap makes it possible to press firmly on the chest. Although there is still no specific rule prohibiting or punishing flattening, both in the UK and in the European Union regard this as a form of child abuse.

According to gynecologist Angie Marriott, because of the small number of complaints filed, this "bad ironing" is a "hidden crime", in which women are afraid to speak to avoid being expelled from their communities.

Source: BBC World