From money marriages to breast ironing: Repressive realities for African women

Repressive cultures are found in societies or social environments characterized by stringent control, suppression, and restrictions on individual freedoms, expressions, and behaviors. In such environments, governmental, societal, or religious authorities often enforce strict rules and regulations to uphold social order, stability, and conformity. These cultures frequently curtail freedom of speech, assembly, and other fundamental human rights. Moreover, dissent, political opposition, and alternative viewpoints may be suppressed through censorship, surveillance, or coercion.

Repressive cultures include authoritarian regimes, totalitarian states, specific religious communities with rigid doctrines and practices, and societies where traditional norms severely limit individual autonomy. 

When it comes to gender or women, repressive cultures emerge when specific restrictions are imposed on women, hindering their rights, freedoms, and opportunities compared to men. Gender inequality is widespread in such societies, and women often encounter systemic discrimination and oppression across various facets of their lives.

While some cultures appear in patterns some communities have adopted, they sometimes give an idea or create a narrative that weighs down women and pushes ideas that misinform people about the place of women in society.

Whether through myths or misinformation, these phenomena persist and thrive within communities, especially in Africa. 

Female genital mutilation

Female genital mutilation or FGM, also known as female circumcision or female genital cutting, refers to the practice of altering or removing parts of the female genitalia for non-medical reasons. Typically performed on girls before puberty, FGM can lead to serious physical, psychological, and sexual health consequences.

Recognised internationally as a form of gender-based violence, encompasses various forms, from partial to total removal of external female genitalia, often carried out for cultural, traditional, or social motives, devoid of any medical benefits.

Practiced in approximately 30 countries across Africa and the Middle East, FGM is also observed in select regions of Asia and Latin America, especially among diaspora communities from these areas. Rooted in a blend of cultural and social factors, including social pressure, convention, perceived religious endorsement, and notions of beauty and purity, this practice persists despite global condemnation.

Research conducted at Birmingham University estimates that 44,000 women and young girls fall victim to FGM annually in countries such as Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cote D’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania.

In Nigeria, FGM affects 24.8% of women aged 15-49, with 82% undergoing the procedure before the age of five. An estimated 19.9 million Nigerian women and girls have undergone FGM. The South East and South West regions report the highest prevalence rates, with 32.0% and 30.0%, respectively, and Imo State holds the highest prevalence at 61.7%.

The detrimental impacts of this practice include severe pain, excessive bleeding, urinary difficulties, cysts, infections, infertility, psychological trauma, reduced sexual pleasure, childbirth complications, increased risk of newborn deaths, shock, and even death.

Despite being recognised as misinformation, FGM continues to persist in many indigenous communities in Nigeria and Africa at large. Alongside mythic beliefs regarding health benefits, this harmful practice perpetuates significant harm to girls and women.

Breast Ironing

Breast ironing, also known as breast flattening, is a harmful cultural practice predominantly found in parts of Africa. It involves the flattening or massaging of young girls’ developing breasts, often using heated objects such as stones, spatulas, or even hammers.

This practice has been documented in countries such as Togo, the Republic of Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Cameroon, where 25-50% of girls undergo the process.

Young girls on the cusp of puberty and sexual development are subjected to the gruesome process of breast ironing, typically against their will. A female figure, often a family member or elder, administers the procedure using grinding stones, a cast iron, a heated hammer, or a coconut shell. Alternatively, breasts may be tightly bound with a belt or cloth.

For some girls, the procedure can span several days, weeks, or even months, depending on the level of resistance of the breast tissue. If the resistance is high, one breast may be ironed multiple times a day for weeks until the desired result is achieved, which is to suppress the breast and cause it to disappear entirely.

Many communities practicing breast ironing place a high value on purity and virginity, believing that a woman’s breast development is directly linked to her sexuality. Therefore, the practice is undertaken to uphold and enforce perceivedly appropriate sexual behaviour.

In response to this barbaric practice, experts have debunked its claimed efficacy. Advocates for Human Rights, a US-based non-profit, confirmed that breast ironing constitutes a brutal violation of human rights. It emphasized that the practice should not be considered result-oriented, as it fails to produce positive outcomes.

Money marriage 

Most prevalent in Cross River, Nigeria, the ancient tradition holds sway, particularly among the Belegate and Becheve communities in the Obanlikwu local government area of Cross River. Victims of what is termed “money marriage,” often underage girls, are frequently bartered away in marriage to elderly men for as little as N5000 or a few tubers of yam as bride price. The distressing reality is that the residents of these communities perceive no wrongdoing in such a system, as it serves their self-interests.

Many natives of these communities accept this practice as usual and dare not challenge it for fear of reprisals.

Once a girl is “sold” for a money marriage in Becheve, she is effectively considered dead by her immediate family and sternly warned never to return, regardless of how her husband or his relatives treat her.

Becheve girls are not only married off from infancy; some are “sold” even before birth and eventually wedded once the groom has made his “payment.” The child is essentially sold into the marriage and condemned to work on the man’s farm to offset the debt.

Becheve “money women” seldom find liberation from their servitude to the “money man.” Many endure their marriages until death because the debt owed is deemed immeasurable. Even upon the death of the man, the girl is passed on to the money man’s next of kin. And when the “money woman” passes away, the man can return to his in-laws and acquire another “money woman.”

Restricting professional choices

Often, women have to go through the tussle that comes with having a job that many believe to be solely made for men. But who made those rules? How has that crept into our society?

Restricting women to specific roles can be described as patriarchal, discriminatory, or gender-based. Such a culture enforces gender stereotypes and limits opportunities for women based solely on their gender, perpetuating inequality and suppressing individual potential.

Take Rukayat Akodu, a 23-year-old professional barber from Lagos, Nigeria, who faced stages of discrimination because she embraced barbing as a path to follow. It went from her employer not having faith in her abilities to the customers who always remained sceptical about letting a woman work on their hairstyles. 

Sarah Oluwaseun, 23, is yet another example of people who have been affected by stereotypes and information that limit women. As a car audio technician working in her father’s car workshop, her male colleagues thought of her as a sham who was only thriving because it was her dad’s shop. She also had encounters with customers who embarrassed her and raised their voices at her because they already believed that she would create more problems than solve them in their vehicles. 

This is a long-standing ideology that has been nursed in the minds of people that women don’t possess the ability to do more than what society carves out for them.

The woman and barreness

Women who fail to meet society’s expectations of childbirth often face ridicule and stereotypes, particularly within their families. It is commonly assumed that women bear the sole responsibility for their inability to conceive. However, infertility is a global health issue affecting millions of people of reproductive age. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), infertility is defined as the inability to achieve pregnancy after engaging in regular unprotected sexual intercourse for 12 months or longer.

In Africa, approximately one in ten couples experience infertility, with Nigeria exhibiting an exceptionally high prevalence rate of around 30.3%.

Despite the widespread nature of infertility on the continent, it is often framed as a women’s health concern and viewed as a condition that exclusively affects them. This social stigma stems from deeply entrenched cultural beliefs that assign women the primary role of childbearing, thereby holding them responsible for perpetuating the family lineage through childbirth.

However, signs and symptoms of infertility in men are equally significant. Factors such as low sperm production, abnormal sperm function or blockages, illnesses, injuries, and other health issues can contribute to male infertility. Additionally, societal beliefs that men cannot be infertile have hindered their willingness to seek help and support.

While society often places the burden of infertility solely on women, research has shown that men also play a significant role in infertility within marriages.

The societal pressures and expectations surrounding infertility, mainly directed towards women, can have profound effects on mental health and well-being. Women may experience feelings of low self-esteem, shame, and various other health challenges, including hypertension.

The various instances of repressive gender-based myths and misinformation highlighted in this discourse serve to perpetuate societal norms that limit women’s freedoms and opportunities. From harmful cultural practices like female genital mutilation and breast ironing to restrictive professional choices to the burden of infertility, women across communities face tremendous challenges and discrimination.

These entrenched beliefs, often reinforced by misinformation and social pressures, not only mislead society but also contribute to the suppression of women’s rights and autonomy. They perpetuate harmful stereotypes and restrict women’s access to education and economic opportunities while also undermining their overall well-being.

The researcher produced this fact-check per the DUBAWA 2024 Kwame KariKari Fellowship, in partnership with Prime Progress, to enrich the ethos of “ truth” in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country.