Calls Rise to End Breast Ironing in Abuja Community
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Watch: Teni Powa explains how breast ironing is carried out 
VIDEO: Hadiza Abdulrahman
Teni Powa admitted that she once practised breast ironing on her daughter but stopped after awareness campaigns reached Pigba.
For her, it was simply a tradition passed down by her grandparents, something she believed was meant to protect. It wasn’t until she learnt the medical risks that she realised the pain she could have caused her daughter.
However, her daughter, the victim, was not home at the time of the interview
“As a girl child, they don’t want you to spoil, they don’t want you to follow men, and they don’t want you to be attractive to men,” said Ruth Ibrahim, secretary of the Pigba Sama Community.
“They believe when your breasts start coming up, it will make men come closer to you and make you disrespect your parents. That’s why they carry out this practice.”
Ruth recalled the case of a woman in the community who complained that breast ironing affected her ability to nurse her baby. According to her, the woman said the milk “was not good” and “tasted somehow”, forcing her to seek alternative remedies after childbirth.
In Pigba Sama, an Abuja community near the resettlement area of Apo, women leaders, educators, and parents said they have pushed back against a practice the United Nations estimates affects nearly four million women and girls worldwide: breast ironing (also called breast flattening).
While community advocacy has reduced the practice, residents fear it still happens in secret, and they called on the government to revive a stalled agreement and scale up protections for girls.
Breast ironing involves pressing or pounding a girl’s developing breasts with heated or hard objects to delay their growth, based on the belief it will make them less attractive to men and protect them from harassment, rape, forced marriage, or dropping out of school.
It is the five most under reported forms of gender-based violence. Because it is often carried out by mothers and female relatives within the home, it makes it difficult to track and expose. Cultural silence, fear of stigma, and lack of awareness also contribute to the underreporting.
According to National Library of Medicine, the practice is reported to be prevalent in countries such as Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic, as well as in Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry, Kenya, Togo, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.
Former Minister of Women Affairs Mrs Uju Kennedy-Ohanneye During an Awareness Campaign Against Breast Ironing in Pigba Community in Abuja. Photo: Ministry of Women Affairs
Community urges government to fulfil its promise
In 2024, the then Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye visited Pigba Sama and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with community leaders. According to residents, the MoU committed both the government and the community to end breast ironing through mobilization, sustained awareness, and stronger monitoring.
It also included promises of empowerment and infrastructure: registering the women’s association with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), supporting vocational skills (such as tailoring and hairdressing), providing equipment, and building a town hall.
The Scretary said some equipment, such as sewing machines, was delivered, but other commitments stalled after the minister left office.
“We want government to revisit the MoU so people will know this is serious,” Ruth said. “The practice has reduced, but we can’t say it is over. Some old women may still do it secretly. Monitoring will bring fear of the law and more protection for girls.”
During the MoU discussions, the community also raised another urgent concern: education and safe access to school. While Pigba Sama has a primary school, residents say there is no secondary school, forcing teenagers to trek nearly 30 minutes each way. They linked this long walk to past cases of harassment and called for either a local secondary school or safe transport options, especially for girls.
Poverty, fear and the path to change
Tuna Usman, a Pigba Sama community mobiliser and educator, said misinformation, fear of teenage pregnancy, and poverty fueled the practice for years
“Many parents believed ironing would keep girls from men,” she noted. “What we want now is empowerment and education to help the women with livelihoods and keep our girls in school. Let government also come and check that we have truly stopped.”
Tuna Usman, a Pigba Sama community mobiliser. Photo: Hadiza Abdulrahman
Health Consequences
Medical experts warn that breast ironing inflicts both physical and psychological harm that can last a lifetime.
“In this practice, the breasts of pre-pubescent girls are ironed or compressed; medically, they are traumatized,” said Dr Patrick Ezie, a medical doctor who described the common complications.
According to him, the repeated trauma to the developing breast can lead to hematomas (internal bleeding that can become infected), mastitis, painful breast lumps and scarring, and difficulties with future breastfeeding.
He further noted that in girls with genetic risks, such trauma could potentially act as a trigger for breast masses, including cancer
He added that trauma could be one of several triggers for breast masses in those with genetic risks of cancer and called for more research on possible links with tumours in younger women.
VAPP ACT
The Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act, enacted in 2015, criminalises various forms of gender-based violence, including harmful practices such as breast ironing.
Despite this provision, Halima Sadiq, Executive Director of Chachavivi Women and Girl Child Development Foundation, said the practice persists in parts of Nigeria due to weak enforcement and cultural beliefs.
She stressed the need for stronger implementation of the law, urging the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to lead in ensuring compliance.
Halima also highlighted the importance of domesticating the Act across states and raising public awareness of its provisions, noting that many people remain unaware of the law.
Government Response
Before and as the time of filing this report, all effort to obtain response from the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs were unsuccessful.
Global Response and Legal Recognition
International treaties like the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child classify such harmful practices as violations of human rights.
The community and gender advocacy groups noted that while the MoU initially raised hopes for change, those hopes to have since faded following the minister’s exit. They urged the new Minister of Women Affairs Hajiya Imaan Sualaiman Ibrahim to revive the MoU, sustain awareness campaigns, and expand interventions across the FCT so that every girl grows up safe, healthy, and free from harmful practices.
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