The Hamar (Hamer) tribe despite being abreast with everything happening around the world, has not stopped their practice of a bizarre culture that involves the beating of women as part of an initiation ceremony for a woman who is ready to get married
The Hamar tradition is Located among the bush covered hills on the eastern side of the Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia, the Hamar tribe have unique culture and customs, one of them being a bull-jumping ceremony where the beatings of the women take place.
The ceremony starts with all the female relatives performing a dance, during which they offer themselves as subjects to be whipped by men who have recently been initiated.
To Hamer women from the South-western Ethiopia, the beatings is more like a normal phase of life. Before you can be allowed to get married, you’ll first have to go through a series of whipping on both the back and buttocks until there are some scars that will signify that you’ve already gone through the ritual and you’re now a grown woman who is very ready for marriage.
The women are not permitted to scream or cry during the ritual, rather they beg the men who wield the canes to beat them over and over again until their bodies becomes bloody, dripping blood into the red dust of the Omo River Valley
Even in marriage, the woman is also subjected to beatings at any time the man pleases and the rules of the tribe says the man do not need to explain the reason he is beating the woman.
This has created deep scars at the backs of the women which they proudly show off as beautiful.
Yes, it’s their tradition and it has been so for decades, but what is your take on this?.
Please drop your comment below, using the comment box.
0 Comments