Banned Beauty
Contemporary Issues, first prize stories
November 6, 2016
Fabiola (11), from Bafoussam, western Cameroon, has had her breasts ironed twice a day for three months.
Breast ironing is a traditional practice in Cameroon that involves massaging or pressing the breasts of pubescent girls in order to suppress or reverse breast development. The practice is carried out in the belief that it will delay maturity and help prevent rapes or sexual advances. Breast ironing is usually done by the girl’s mother or an older relative. Techniques differ from region to region. Some people bind the breasts with a belt, others heat a grinding stone, spatula or pestle and use it to press or massage the breasts.
Although largely a Cameroonian practice, breast ironing does occur in some other countries across West and Central Africa. Local NGOs estimate that around 25 percent of women in the Cameroon have undergone some form of breast flattening; in some areas that rises to over 50 percent. Mothers explain that the painful procedure is an act of love, to make sure their daughters don’t get pregnant and miss out on school or jobs. There is little medical research on the psychological and physical consequences of breast flattening, but according to the United Nations Population Fund, the practice exposes girls to numerous health problems deriving from tissue damage and infection.
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Heba Khamis
Egypt
Heba Khamis is an Egyptian storyteller whose work concentrates on social issues that are often ignored.
About the photographer
Heba Khamis
Heba Khamis is an Egyptian storyteller whose work concentrates on social issues that are often ignored.
Heba Khamis is an Egyptian storyteller whose work concentrates on social issues that are often ignored.
In 2017 Heba participated in World Press Photo Foundation’s Joop Swart Masterclass, was awarded with PHmuseum’s Women Photographers Grant and received an Ian Parry award.
After graduating with a bachelor in painting, Heba made a career shift and worked as a staff photojournalist for El Tahrir Egyptian daily newspaper and as a freelancer with international news agencies such as AP, EPA and Xinhuanet covering the two revolutions in Egypt, and their aftermath.
After volunteering in Uganda, Heba's style developed from hard news to documentary photography, focusing on the social and humanitarian issues in Africa. More recently Heba has been working on breast ironing issues in Cameroon and refugee issues in Germany.
In 2016 Heba received her diploma in photojournalism from the Danish School of Media and Journalism. In 2017 she earned another diploma in photojournalism from Hochschule Hannover University of Applied Sciences and Arts. She is working on mixing her artistic skills and photojournalistic experience to develop her own style of documentation.
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