''Leblouh'' ( ar, البلوح, lə-blūḥ) is the practice of
force-feeding
Force-feeding is the practice of feeding a human or animal against their will. The term ''gavage'' (, , ) refers to supplying a substance by means of a small plastic feeding tube passed through the nose ( nasogastric) or mouth (orogastric) into t ...
girls from as young as five to nineteen, in countries where obesity was traditionally regarded as desirable. Especially prevalent in
rural areas
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...
and having its roots in
Tuareg
The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern A ...
tradition, ''leblouh'' is practiced to increase chances of marriage in a society where high body volume used to be a sign of wealth.
The practice occurs in several
African
African or Africans may refer to:
* Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa:
** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa
*** Ethn ...
countries, such as
Mauritania
Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
,
Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languages
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
,
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
,
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
(specifically
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
people),
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
,
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
and
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
Older women called "fatteners" force the young girls to consume enormous quantities of food and liquid, inflicting pain on them if they do not eat and drink. One way of inflicting pain is to pinch a limb between two sticks. A six-year-old might typically be forced to drink of camel's milk, and eat two kilos of pounded
millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...
mixed with two cups of butter, every day. Although the practice is abusive, mothers claim there is no other way to secure a good future for their children.
A similar practice is referred to in a folktale entitled "The Tortoise with a Pretty Daughter", collected in '' Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria'' (1910). The folklorist who wrote down the story explained the treatment of the "pretty daughter": "The fatting house is a room where a girl is kept for some weeks before her marriage. She is given plenty of food, and made as fat as possible, as fatness is looked upon as a great beauty by the
Efik people
The Efik are an ethnic group located primarily in southern Nigeria, and western Cameroon. Within Nigeria, the Efik can be found in the present-day Cross River State and Akwa Ibom state. The Efik speak the Efik language which is a member of the Be ...
and
Bahumono
The Bahumono (Ehumono, Kohumono) people are the ethnic group in Nigeria located primarily in the Abi local government area of Cross River State. They are the largest ethnic group in the region.
They speak the Kohumono language.
History
The E ...
."
Leblouh in Mauritania
Leblouh (often referred to using the French word gavage) in Mauritania is quite unique and involves an often months long process during which Mauritanian girls are forced to swallow gallons of milk, couscous, peanut oil, and cups of pure animal fat. An often cited statistic is that Mauritanian girls undergoing the process of Leblouh consume four times the amount of calories as an adult male body-builder who consumes on average 4,000 calories daily. During these months the child or young girl being fattened consumes on average 14,000 to 16,000 calories daily, while the recommended diet for a healthy 12-year old girl includes only 1,500 calories.Guerrero, Lindsey A. "The force-feeding of young girls: Mauritania's failure to enforce preventative measures and comply with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women." ''Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems'', vol. 21, no. 3, 2013, p. 879+. ''Gale Academic OneFile'', link.gale.com/apps/doc/A330687900/AONE?u=tel_a_vanderbilt&sid=AONE&xid=11dd6785. Accessed 27 Apr. 2021. Young girls are often fattened from around the age of 6 or 7 years of age and are coerced using techniques which cause varying degrees of mental and physical anguish. If the young girls refuse to consume the on average 20 liters of milk a day that they are given, they are subjected to "toe squeezing" which involves the crushing of the toes using a contraption made of sticks, pinched on the skin, or even hit. Sources state that the most common reason for families investing in Leblouh for their young daughter is to ensure her financial security and good marriage prospects. Pendergast, Philip, and Adenife Modile. “Forced to Force-Feed? Gavage, Marriage and Sex in Mauritania.” ''PAA'', PAA, 27 Apr. 2018, paa.confex.com/paa/2018/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/23553.
Gavage is much more common in the poorer and more resource deficient regions of Mauritania. These regions include the rural Saharan regions of the country, the rural areas along the
Senegal River
,french: Fleuve Sénégal)
, name_etymology =
, image = Senegal River Saint Louis.jpg
, image_size =
, image_caption = Fishermen on the bank of the Senegal River estuary at the outskirts of Saint-Louis, Senegal ...
in the Sahelian region, along with the urban areas along the coast. In these regions, families are much more motivated to force-feed their daughters in the effort to draw wealthy suitors. It does not appear however, that gavaged women have greater wealth or access to resources than their non-gavaged counterparts.
The practice of fattening girls in Mauritania has been linked to incredibly harmful physical and psychological consequences. Leblouh has been correlated with significant reductions in movement and the development of cardiovascular diseases. The use of pills, in the form of steroids, to cause weight gain have been widely reported throughout the country.Ouldzeidoune, Nacerdine, et al. “A Description of Female Genital Mutilation and Force-Feeding Practices in Mauritania: Implications for the Protection of Child Rights and Health.” ''PLOS ONE'', Public Library of Science, 9 Apr. 2013, journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0060594#pone.0060594-United2. The increasing frequency of droughts has also caused a shortage of cows, camels, produce, and grain used to feed families and/or fatten girls. As a result, many families have been forced to sell their livestock because they can not afford to feed themselves. Many women and young girls have now turned to black market cattle and incredibly dangerous bird steroids to gain weight. The increasing levels of impoverishment in some areas of the country have also led some women and girls to discover that antihistamines, traditionally used to treat hay fever, have appetite inducing qualities. While these products are still dangerous they are much more accessible and can be purchased over-the-counter. Women who have undergone Leblouh are also at a consistently higher risk of initiating sex earlier and having children earlier than their counterparts who were not gavaged. Gavage may also put women at serious risk for poor childbirth outcomes, HIV/AIDS, and other health issues, above and beyond the impact of BMI that itself constitutes a physical health risk. Also, there seems to be a strong correlation between gavage and early pregnancy as early pregnancy is more common among poor young women.
Origins of leblouh and revival
It is difficult to precisely pinpoint the origins of force-feeding in Mauritania. However, some historians believe that the practice is centuries old and dates back to a time when most Mauritanians (white Mauritanians, Arabs, and Berbers) were nomads. In this nomadic society, obesity was seen as a sign of beauty in women and the wives of rich men would often not work and sit in tents while Black slaves did the hard labor that the desert required. Mauritania is a society that even today is governed by two distinct populations: the light-skinned Moors and the dark-skinned Africans whose roots are largely sub-Saharan. Mauritanians who identify as Arabs still have the highest rates of Leblouh in the country when compared to the nations minority groups.
The 21st century however has been a time for the revival of Leblouh in Mauritania, as well as a time for reform. In 2005, the head of President Ould Taya’s presidential guard, Mohamed Ould Ely Vall led a coup with the promise of free and fair elections in 2006. In 2006 and 2007, democratic, free and transparent elections occurred for the first time in Mauritania. After just two years of democracy and a period of serious institutional crisis with several changes to government and the presentation of a motion of censorship by a group of deputies, General Abdel Aziz seized power by force after a new political coup in 2008. This coup occurred in August 2008, and the democratic government was subsequently replaced with a military junta that favored what they called "a return to tradition." An election in July 2009 allowed the military junta to maintain control of the government. After this election a slew of legislation was enacted focusing on reinstating traditional rules into law, despite claims of massive vote-rigging. Mint Ely, a women's rights campaigner, describes: "We had a Ministry of Women's Affairs. ... We had female diplomats and governors. The military set us back by decades, sending us back to our traditional roles. We no longer even have a ministry to talk to."
Government figures from prior to the 2008 coup indicate that gavage occurred in 50-60 percent of the women in rural areas and 20-30 percent of the women in urban areas. After the coup, professional force-feeders estimate that approximately 80 percent of women nation-wide have undergone some form of Leblouh.
Attitudes towards leblouh in Mauritania and abroad
Data from the Mauritania 2000–2001 DHS was used to determine the attitudes of men and women in regards to the continuation of
Female Genital Mutilation
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
and gavage. The analysis found that the majority of both female and male respondents favored the continuation of the practice (64% and 70%, respectively). It also found that almost a quarter (23%) of women reported being force fed as a child and 32% of women and 29% of men approved the continuation of the practice. While the prevalence of gavage is clearly quite high, the harming of the genital organs of any child (including harm resulting from the practice of gavage and FGM) is illegal under the Mauritanian child protection penal code; penalties range from 1–3 years imprisonment and heavy fines. The law, however, does not specifically mention FGM or gavage as illicit practices that harm young children.
Attitudes in Mauritania do seem to be changing however with global influences, such as Western fashions, Nigerian pop music, and French TV altering the perceptions of body size and women's beauty. Lebanese music is incredibly popular throughout the Middle East and Mauritanian men have began to compare Mauritanian women to popular Lebanese singers, showing that attitudes may be changing in the country even among men.
International organizations and NGOs have also become increasingly interested in what they see as a peculiar and abusive cultural practice. The idea that traditional fattening customs have now morphed into cases where young women routinely ingest dangerous animal growth hormones and steroids has caught the attention of organizations such as
Equality Now
Equality Now is a non-governmental organization founded in 1992 to advocate for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women and girls. Through a combination of regional partnerships, community mobilization and legal advocacy the or ...
. Christopher E. Forth (2018) France and the fattened American: animality, consumption and the logic of ''gavage'', Food, Culture & Society, 21:3, 350-366, DOI: 10.1080/15528014.2018.1451041 Western perceptions often believe Leblouh to be a form of dehumanizing subjugation that should be included with FGM and sex trafficking as human rights violations. The country is now being targeted by international women’s rights groups seeking to end the practice and Leblouh in Mauritania has become the subject of recent articles and documentaries that offer a voyeuristic window onto a practice markedly at odds with current Western ideas about food and body.
Gallery
File:Fig149TunesischeJudin.jpg, Tunisian Jewish woman, about 1900.
File:59.Grosse juive-Djerba-Garrigues.jpg, Jewish woman from Garrigues on Djerba island.
File:Tunisie Femme juive 1.jpg, Tunisian Jewish woman of the 1910s.
File:Two Jewish women standing, facing each other, in Tunisia.png, Jewish women in Tunisia. About 1910.