Brutal Practices That Prove Women’s Bodies Are Still Not Their Own In 2026

Every 6th February, the world marks Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation. But if you think FGM is the only way women’s bodies are controlled, think again. Right here, we show you six shocking practices from across the globe.

They differ in form but share the same brutal truth. Women’s autonomy is conditional; their bodies are negotiable, and apparently, that is perfectly fine with the world.

1. Female Genital Mutilation

Female genital mutilation is the partial or total removal of female genitalia for non-medical reasons. According to UNICEF, over 230 million girls and women worldwide have undergone it, mostly in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and migrant communities. It is also practised by some communities in India.

Most girls are cut before age five, often at home and without anaesthesia, using razors, knives, glass, or sharpened stones. There are four main types, ranging from removing just the clitoral tip to infibulation, where the vaginal opening is sealed almost completely, leaving only a small hole for urine and menstrual blood.

The health consequences are severe, including chronic pain, infections, complications during childbirth, infertility, PTSD, depression, and increased infant mortality. 

2. Chhaupadi (Nepal)

In parts of Nepal, menstruation still carries a stigma so severe that it forces women into exile. Under the practice of Chhaupadi, menstruating women and girls are made to sleep in isolated sheds or animal huts, cut off from kitchens, temples, schools, and even human contact. Their natural bodily process is seen as impure and dangerous.

Nepal banned Chhaupadi in 2017, introducing fines and prison sentences. Yet the practice persists. Studies in provinces like Achham and Bajura reveal the harsh realities with girls facing snake bites, smoke inhalation, pneumonia, sexual assault, and even death from the cold. Families know the risks, but fear of social judgment often overrides concern for their daughters’ safety

3. Breast Ironing (Cameroon)

In parts of Cameroon, a hidden practice targets young girl’s bodies. Breast ironing involves pressing or pounding developing breasts with hot stones, pestles, or other heated objects. Families justify it as protection to delay puberty, avoid sexual attention, and prevent early pregnancy.

The practice is often carried out by mothers or female relatives. It is protection twisted into punishment. Instead of tackling the threat of male violence, girls pay the price themselves. Their bodies bear the damage while the real danger remains untouched.

The effects are severe. Girls can suffer burns, tissue damage, cysts and even permanent deformities. A 2012 survey by UNICEF and Cameroon’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs found that one in four girls aged 9 to 15 had been subjected to breast ironing, revealing how common this hidden abuse is.

4. Baad (Afghanistan)

As activists put it, “a dog has more rights than a woman in Afghanistan today.” 

A horrifying tradition called Baadtreats women and girls as bargaining chips. When a serious crime occurs, a girl or woman from the perpetrator’s family can be handed over to the victim’s family to “settle the dispute.” Decisions are made by jirgas, male councils of elders, and the girl’s consent is never considered. 

Baad has no basis in Islam and is widely considered un-Islamic. Victims are frequently minors, removed from their families, denied education, and subjected to abuse. 

Take 11-year-old Babogai from Helmand. With lenders pressing hard on her widowed mother, she went from selling firewood and paper to help her family to being married off. The situation has worsened under the Taliban, whose policies have strengthened these patriarchal practices.

Education for girls beyond primary school has been banned, and women are barred from working outside the home in many areas. Reports say women cannot leave the house without a male guardian, and they are excluded from every aspect of public life.

5. Ala Kachuu (Kyrgyzstan)

Ala kachuu, meaning “take and run away,” refers to bride kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan. The practice exists on a spectrum, from consensual elopement to violent abduction. In non consensual cases, a woman is abducted by a man and his friends, taken to his family home, and pressured to accept marriage. A white scarf is placed on her head as a symbol of agreement. Refusal carries heavy stigma.

Bride kidnapping is illegal in Kyrgyzstan. Prosecutions are rare. Victimisation surveys suggest around 5 per cent of current marriages involve kidnapping. Research by scholar Russell Kleinbach estimates the figure could be far higher, with up to half of Kyrgyz marriages involving some form of kidnapping, many non-consensual.

In 2018, 19-year-old Burulai Turdalieva was murdered by her kidnapper inside a police station after officers failed to separate them. Her death sparked protests. However, the system still remains largely unchanged.

6. Abortion restrictions (United States)

In the U.S, abortion is legal in many states on paper, but since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, access has become highly uneven. Within a few months, 43 clinics in 11 states stopped providing care. About 100 days after the decision, that number had risen to 66 clinics across 15 states. Nearly 30 per cent of women of reproductive age suddenly had no local access.

A high-profile case in Georgia in 2025 shows the real impact. Adriana Smith suffered a medical emergency and was declared brain dead, but fetal cardiac activity remained. State law initially prevented doctors from ending life support, leaving her family powerless. This case highlighted how restrictive laws can remove choice, even in life and death situations.

Criminalising abortion has not stopped it. It has made care harder to access, increased health risks, and worsened disparities, especially for poor and rural women.

Views expressed by the author are their own.