The UK’s largest education union wants every British school to teach about the dangers of breast ironing, done to delay girls’ breasts from developing. (Veronique de Viguerie/Getty Images)
The dangers of the painful and barbaric practice of “breast ironing” — done to delay girls’ breasts from developing — should be a part of every British school’s curriculum, the UK’s largest education union said Tuesday.
The technique, which is mostly an issue in West African communities, usually involves family members using large heated stones to compress a girl’s breast tissues or binding them to stop them from growing and attracting male attention.
Teachers should also be trained to spot the signs of breast ironing, said the National Education Union, which represents more than 500,000 teachers, teaching assistants and other education support staff.
“The NEU condemns the practice of breast ironing, which is so damaging to young women, and supports action to address the root causes,” Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the Union, said in a statement to Reuters. "Compulsory, age-appropriate relationships and sex education will help girls and young women to have the confidence to assert control over their bodies and lives.”
Britain’s National FGM Centre, which aims to keep kids and young people safe from female genital mutilation and other harmful practices, says breast ironing can lead to psychological trauma and serious health effects like cysts, infection and scarring.
“Girls in primary school can be subjected to breast ironing so conversations that give children the opportunity to develop the ability to voice concerns is important,” Leethen Bartholomew, head of the Centre, told Reuters. "Teaching about gender equality, human rights and the consequences of harmful practices like breast ironing in schools would give children the opportunity to be made aware of this hidden form of child abuse.”
BBC News spoke to a UK woman whose identity was protected by disguising her name who says she experienced breast ironing at age 10. The victim, whose family is from West Africa, said her mom told her that “if I don’t iron them, men will start coming to you, to have sex with you.”
“Time does not erase that kind of pain,” the woman said. She added that once she had kids of her own, her mom tried to get her to iron their breasts. “I said, ‘No, no, no, none of my children are going to go through what I went through, as I still live with the trauma,’" the woman added.
She even moved away from her family to avoid them breast ironing her daughters without her consent.
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