Breast ironing: an act of flattening girl’s breast to protect them from rape

Young girl's breast are being flattened to protect them from rape

According to the United Nations (UN), over 3.8 million females around the world are being affected by this barbaric act called breast ironing, whereby young girl’s chest are pounded with hot objects in the name of protecting them from rape and sexual harassment. The brutal custom uses large stones and a hammer or spatula that has been heated over scorching coals to compress the breast tissue of girls as young as 10 years old.
The mutilation is a traditional practice from Cameroon designed to make teenage girls look less "womanly" to deter unwanted male attention, pregnancy and rape. Breast ironing is widespread in Cameroon, Nigeria and South Africa - with the girl's mother being the abuser in 58 per cent of cases, according to the Department of Public Health Services. The mother often warrants the ritual removing signs of puberty so her daughter can pursue education for longer rather than being regarded as "ready for marriage".
Magdalena Randall-Schab, from the UK National Committee for UN Women, said: "These violent acts are not only perpetrated by men on women, but by older generations of women on young girls.
The issues therefore are quite complex as we are dealing with deep-seated cultural beliefs, but there is a need to help people to see that however well-intentioned they may believe their acts to be, they are acts of violence."

                                                                                (C)worldPulse

Much like Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), breast-ironing has been identified by the UN as one of five under-reported crime relating to gender-based violence.
As well as inflicting excruciating pain, the cruel practice exposes girls to health problems including abscesses, cysts, infection tissue damage and even the disappearance of one or both breasts.
Rather than using barbaric tools such as stones and hammers, rich families opt to use an elastic belt to press the small paps that prevent them from growing. Experts believe that the custom is being practiced amongst the several thousand Cameroonians now living in the UK.
"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."
Do you think this act shouldn’t be prosecuted based on the reasons it is being carried out for?

Source: Express