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A Review of Human Rights Violation in African Cultural 

Practices 

 
 

Eberechukwu E. Omezue-Nnali1, Wisdom C. Egwu2, Chinyere 

Ifeanyi-Aruogu3 

Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Unwana 

ukpabie3@gmail.com1, egwuwisdom@gmail.com2, 

chinyere.ifeanyiaruogu@gmail.com3 

 

Abstract 

Africa is enriched with diverse rich cultural heritage. Some of these 

cultural practices have                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

been upheld over the decades despite westernization. However, 

civilization has enlightened Africans in some regions to realize that 

some of these cultural practices are barbaric, absurd and constitute 

a violation of their fundamental human right. These cultural 

practices that stramble on the human rights of Africans has in some 

regions impeded socio-economic and educational development. The 

purpose of this study shall be to examine these harmful cultural 

practices obtainable in selected West African communities which 

violate the fundamental human rights of her citizens including a few 

cultural practices that has been eradicated or left optional. Some of 

these harmful cultural practices to be reviewed here include female 

genital circumcision, child labour, tribal marking, virginity testing, 

son preference/ male dominance, removing of a girl’s teeth in 

preparation for marriage and so many others. The scope of this 

study shall be limited to Nigeria and a few West African States. The 

Research methodology to be adopted is the theoretical approach 

with a little touch of empirical method by way of conducting 

mailto:ukpabie3@gmail.com
mailto:egwuwisdom@gmail.com2
mailto:chinyere.ifeanyiaruogu@gmail.com3


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interviews on selected elders, other data shall be sourced through 

library and Internet sources. Thus the study recommends that some 

cultural practices should be abolished as same poses a threat to the 

exercise of the fundamental human rights of children and more 

especially females generally. Also strict adherences to some of these 

cultural practices impede socio-economic development of the 

region. Thus, any cultural practice that does not respect the human 

rights of the people especially females should be modified or 

eradicated. 

Keywords: culture, tradition, human rights, law 

 
1. Introduction 

There is a behavior that a people can practice over the years and it 

becomes a norm to them not minding whether such 

traditional/cultural practices are harmful or not. Thus, some 

practices in the African culture has persisted over decades and 

centuries because they are not questioned or challenged, thus the 

people have grown to see such harmful practices as a normal thing 

that is morally justified. It is pertinent to note however that morality 

is not law. For example, prior to 1876, twins were killed together 

with their mother as they were seen as an abomination and their 

killing was in order to wipe away their presumed bad omen from the 

community. 

1.1 Background of study 
Africa is a nation blessed with a rich cultural heritage. Africa culture 

also varies from one country and tribe to another. The culture in 

Africa is rich in traditions, art, music, literature and food. The 

Africans were enjoying their cultural heritage before the invasion of 

the whites and this westernization had both negative and positive 

impact on Africans. However, some parts of Africa still wholly 

embraced their culture not minding that it violates the human rights 



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of others. Thus, traditional cultural practices deal with the value and 

beliefs that are held by members of a community for periods often 

spanning generations (FactSheet, 2021). Human Rights are the 

standards that are recognized to protect the dignity of all human 

beings (UNICEF, 2021). These rights are available to us as humans 

and it belongs to every person on earth regardless of tribe, sex, and 

nationality; and it’s from birth to death (National Human Rights 

Institute, 2019). On the other hand, International Human Rights 

embodies the laid down rights of human which States are bound to 

respect. 

1.2 Statement of Problem 

African people have an aspect of their lives which is very important 

and it is called culture. This culture has much influence in 

structuring the lives of men and women in the community and their 

relationship (Ncube, 2018: ii) 

Due to long term acts of practice, these cultural practices are 

seen as normal by the greater number of persons in the community, 

yet no matter how generally accepted this cultural practices are, it 

does not negate the fact that it is a violation of human rights of these 

persons and thus the most vulnerable among them are mostly 

women and children. Westernization robbed African culture of 

some of her cultural heritage, yet there are still many of these 

traditional practices that are still being practiced by the people. 

Thus, till date, there are still some frictions between some cultural 

practices that are in conflict with the human rights of men and 

women in practices as practiced in Nigeria and some few West 

African states. 

1.3 Research Questions 
The main research question as deprived from this research work is 

what are the harmful cultural practices in West Africa that violate 

the human rights of the people? 



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2. Theoretical Framework 
Edward Shils Theory of Tradition sees the idea of tradition as any 

precipitate or filament of past practice or past belief that is 

transmitted (handed down) by a parent, teacher or persons and 

which is learnt and re-enacted (or rethought) by agents through at 

least three consecutive generations (Straus Jacobs:2007).  

There are some theories on culture, which review culture in 

three theoretical perspectives which include functionalism, conflict 

theory and symbolic interactionism. The functionalists sees the 

society as a system where everything works or functions, thus 

culture is a requirement for the society to function. Functionalists 

see culture as a reflection of the society’s values, in other words, 

culture is meant to meet the basic needs of its members. The Conflict 

theorist sees inequality in the social structure, it could be as a result 

of power differentials related to issues like age, race, gender, etc. 

The Conflict theorists believes that culture is used as an edge by a 

certain persons against others, that is to say it reinforces the 

privileged groups against others, this could be based on gender, race, 

class, etc. for example, women striving for relevance in a male 

dominated state; the blacks struggling for recognition among the 

white men especially the groups that detest foreigners. They believe 

culture favour some people and hurt others. For example, Polygamy 

which is common in some cultures is unthinkable in other cultures, 

gay and lesbian marriages practiced in America and other States are 

greatly frowned at by Africans. The third is Symbolic Interactionism 

is a sociological perspective that is mostly concerned with the face 

to face interactions between members in the society. They see 

culture as what is created and maintained by the ways people interact 

and this is also relevant on how individuals interpret each other’s 

actions. In Symbolic Interactionism, every object and action has a 



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symbolic meaning and these meanings are communicated face to 

face by the use of language. This approach can come to play when 

arts and music are used in the expression of culture to the people. 

(Lumen Learning; Reading: Theoretical Perspectives on Culture, 

Module 2). We shall now explore the theories of human rights.  

Andrew Heard (1997) sees human rights as the great ethical 

yardstick used to measure a government’s treatment of its people. 

Thomas Paine states that natural rights are those which appertain to 

man in right of all his existence (Heard A. 1997:1). Thus, it is 

generally accepted that only human beings are the only holders of 

human rights, and this is by virtue of their humanity irrespective of 

your age, gender, race, nationality or membership of any particular 

social group. Earlier on it was referred to as ‘Natural rights’ but was 

called ‘human rights’ after the World War II. (LegalRaj, 2020)  

Basically, the two theories that dominate contemporary 

human rights discussion are the Interest Theory and the Will theory. 

The Interest theory which is well represented by Philosopher John 

Finnis  (1980), who argues that human rights are justifiable on the 

grounds of their instrumental value for necessary conditions of 

human well-being. He identified seven basic forms of human good, 

which are life and its capacity for development, the acquisition of 

knowledge, play as a capacity for recreation, aesthetic expression, 

sociability and friendship, practical reasonable thought processes 

and religion or the capacity for spiritual experience. In summary, 

this approach tends to see our fundamental interests as pre-

determinants of human moral decency. 

The Will theory Approach attempts to construe the validity 

of human rights to be centered on the capacity for freedom. Hart 

(1955:77) infers that all rights of man are embedded on the 

fundamental right of freedom-‘equal right of all men to be free.’ In 

a development of this theory, Henry Shue (1996) argued that 



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liberty/freedom alone does not encompass all the rights. Thus, he 

added security from violence and the necessary material conditions 

for personal survival. Gewirth developed the Will theory further, 

Alan GeWirth (1978:1982) argues that all human action is rationally 

purposive and that freedom are the basic ingredients for a rationally 

purposive action. It is worthy to note that both approaches have 

suffered much criticism for its weaknesses (Andrew Fagan, 2021) 

From the foregoing literatures, it is pertinent to note that 

there is no literature that reviews are the cultural practices that are 

obtainable in some selected African states, hence this research work 

2.1 Harmful Cultural Practices 

Harmful cultural practices are discriminatory practices committed 

regularly over long period of time that communities and societies 

begin to consider them acceptable (UNICEF (2021). These Harmful 

traditional practices are forms of violence which have been 

committed primarily against women and girls in certain 

communities for so long that they are presented by the perpetrators 

as part of the accepted cultural practice. (Public Health Scotland: 

2021). The Protocol of the African Charter on Human and People’s  

Rights on the Right of Women in Africa defines harmful practices 

as all behavior, attitudes, and/or practices which negatively affect 

the fundamental rights of women and girls, such as their right to life, 

dignity, education and physical integrity” (ACHPR, 2018) in Ncube 

N. A., 2018)  

These harmful cultural practices reflect some traditional 

values and belief system which has spanned generations, some of 

the practices are life threatening and harmful to some members of 

the community, where as it is generally accepted as a norm by 

greater members of the community. This harmful traditional 

practices include Female Genital Mutilations (FGM), early 

marriage/ early pregnancy, son preference, male dominance, 



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virginity test, child labour, tribal marking and so on (FactSheet No. 

23, 1979). Ncube (2018) observes that the recognition of these 

cultural practices makes room for the perpetration of this act of 

gender inequality which violates the human rights of individual. 

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 

provides that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity 

and rights and further in Article 2 states that everyone is entitled to 

all the rights and freedoms  without distinction of any kind, such as 

race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion 

(UN General Assembly, 1948). 

 

3. Harmful Cultural Practices 

These hurtful cultural practices shall be explained here seriatim: 

1. Female Genital Mutilation/ Circumcision (FGM): 

Maluleke (2012) explained Female genital mutilation (FGM) as a 

disfigurement that involves the cutting of the clitoris. It also includes 

changing the form of the labia or elongating them (Maluleke, 2012: 

7). 

According to the World Health Organization (2012), Female 

Genital Mutilation (FGM) involves the partial or total removal of 

external female genital or other injury to the female genital organs 

for non medical traditional practitioners. It is usually carried out on 

minors, thus it is a violation of the rights of children and girls (WHO, 

2022).UNICEF (2019) observed that every year around four million 

girls globally are at risk of undergoing female genital mutilation 

(FGM) before the age of 15. Also, that most communities that 

practice FGM believe that it is needful because of the socio-cultural 

convictions. Some cultures believe it shows maturity into 

womanhood, while others see it that it suppresses a woman’s 

sexuality (UNICEF, 2019). 



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As stated by WHO (2022), there are several health hazards 

that may result to some surrounding genital issues and likely death. 

Long term complications can include urinary problems, vaginal 

problems/infections, menstrual problems, increased risks of 

childbirth complications, need for later surgeries and then 

psychological problems. 

Maluleke (2012) noted that there are several health hazards of 

engaging in Female Genital Mutilation, which includes hemorrhage, 

blood poisoning, sickness or death and this act of FGM is a practice 

of torture which is contained in Article 5 of the African Charter on 

Human and Peoples’ Right. The Swiss Agency for Development and 

Cooperation (SDC) narrates that the UN estimates that globally 200 

million women and girls undergo the practice of FGM and 

amazingly, 80% of this violation happen in Africa and Somalia (in 

East Africa) has highest rate of practice. In Somalia, 98% of women 

undergo this procedure; it is followed by Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya 

(SDC (24/2/2021). About 31 countries in Africa still practice FGM 

but it is mostly practiced in Djibouti, Egypt, Guinea and Mali 

(Kathryn Reid, 2021) 

In Nigeria, FGM is predominantly practiced in the ratio of 77% in 

the South, 68% in the SouthEast and 65% in the SouthWest 

(Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, 2016). Between 2014-

2016, Nigerian Newspapers noted that FGM is mostly practiced in 

this six states which are Ebonyi, Imo, Ekiti, Lagos, Osun,  and Oyo 

(Ibid, Vanguard 9 Sept. 2015, UN 21 UNE, 2016                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

. Punch  7 Feb,  2016, ICIR 7 Feb. 2015). Recently, on 6th February, 

2022 on the International Day of Zero Tolerance of FGM, Unicef 

Nigeria warned that Female Genital Mutilations is still on the rise in 

Nigeria especially among girls 0-14 (Unicef Nigeria (2022). FGM 

inflicts torture on the girl child, it has been condemned globally and 

thus should be stopped not minding the cultural approval of same 



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3.1 Child Labour 
According to the International Labour Organization (2021), Child 

Labour is any work that deprives children of their childhood, their 

potential and their dignity and that is harmful to physical and mental 

development (Internal Labour Organization, 2021). In determining 

what constitutes child labour, consideration is usually paid on the 

age of the child, the type of work, she/he does, the hours of work 

performed, the conditions under which the child does the work and 

the objectives pursued by the individual’s country. There are the 

worst forms of Child Labour which is defined by the Article 3 of the 

ILO Convention No. 182 and it includes the following: 

i. All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery. 

For example, trafficking of children, forced labour, forced 

or compulsory recruitment for use in armed conflict 

ii. Offering of a child for prostitution or any 

pornographic performances 

iii. Offering of a child for illicit activities, such as 

production or trafficking of drugs 

iv. Such work which is likely to harm the health safety 

or morals of a child. 

The International Labour Organization in 2020 estimated one third 

of children in Child Labour are out of school and that worldwide, 

about 160 million children are involved in child labour accounting 

for almost 1 in 10 of all children worldwide (63 million girls and 97 

million boys). Sub-haram Africa was rated highest globally by 

having 86.6% in child labour and 38.6% in the harzardous work. On 



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the other hand, Arab States have the least number of children 

engaging in the child labour, as it is only 2.41% (ILO AND UNICEF 

2022). The 2016 Global estimates of child labour has indicated that 

one-fifth (1/5) of all African Children are involved in child labour 

which nine percent (9%) of children are involved in hazardous 

works (International Labour Organization, 2021)  

Child Labour and Fundamental Human Rights 

Children are the most vulnerable and so needs the protection of 

parents and guardians in the society. 

In 2010, the international community adopted a roadmap for 

achieving the elimination of the worst forms of child labour by 2016 

and this emphasized on the fact that child labour is an impediment 

to children’s rights. (International Labour Organization (ILO) 

World Day Against Child Labour: 2012). Child labour stampedes 

on the rights of the child to education and exposes the child to 

numerous risks to his health and requisite training. Unicef (2021) 

has also noted several consequences of child  labour which includes 

of their fundamental rights, health hazards, slavery, sexual or 

economic exploitation, mental harm or even death (Unicef, 2021) 

3.1.1 Son Preference/ Male Dominance 
Every family in Africa desires to have at least a son in the family. 

Generally, where there is no son in the family, the society sees it that 

the lineage has been cut off. Earlier on in West Africa, girls were 

not sent to schools when westernization just started, they were seen 

as goods that would soon be bought over by another man for his 

pleasure. However, this concept is gradually changing as girls are 

now sent to schools even to the highest level by parents including 

the illiterate parents. Despite the high rate of civilization, most West 

African families still prefer and value the birth of a son than that of 

a daughter. 

3.1.2 Son Preference and Human Rights 



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Son Preference is discriminatory in nature. Every person/child has a 

right to be free from discrimination based on gender; this is a 

fundamental human right as provided in the Constitution of most 

African States. This discrimination can lead to denial of inheritance 

that is due to a girl child, it can also affect her access to education; 

and then in marriage, it would make the female aim tirelessly at 

reproducing a male child, some women are even chased out of their 

matrimonial homes because they could not give birth to a son. Son 

Preference is a violation of the rights of the girl-child as stipulated 

under Articles 2, 6, 12, 19, 24, 27 and 28 of the convention on the 

rights of the child. 

Son Preference keeps the girl child perpetually 

disadvantaged from birth and this is something she did not choose 

for herself, nature/God made her a girl. It is still the woman (grown 

girl child) that suffers the risk of death/ health hazards in the extreme 

cases where the man/husband would decide on selective abortion/ 

female infanticide which aims at having a male foetus. 

3.2 Early Marriage 

Early marriage is a societal problem that girls face in Africa. There 

is a cultural belief that the girl should marry as a virgin, in order to 

actualize same, they give out the girl in marriage before the age of 

18 -20 years. Thus the female is sometimes tested by a process called 

Virginity Test (This shall be discussed hereinafter). Immediately the 

marriage is contracted, the woman is expected to start 

consummating the marriage and the next expectation is pregnancy 

and child birth. Most times, those that marry earlier have more 

chances of giving birth to more number of children in the family. 

3.2.1 Early Marriage and Human Rights 
This early marriage otherwise referred to as child marriage is a 

violation of the human rights of the girl child, who cannot make an 

informed decision at that tender age. This early marriage and its 



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accompanying early pregnancies expose the girl-child to some 

health hazards such as Vesicovaginal fistula, resulting from early 

and multiple pregnancies. Early marriage also stampedes on the 

mental, economic and all round growth. She is denied basic 

education because she has to take care of the home because she was 

forced into adulthood premature, thus financially, this girl –child 

may have nothing to contribute to the family and these may attract 

assault and other forms of domestic violence, which is a violation of 

the right of the woman. 

It is pertinent to add here that in most parts of Nigeria 

especially Igbo land (Eastern Nigeria), a young girl who gets 

pregnant for a boy/man is forced to go and live in the home of the 

boy/man not minding whether the boy/man is ready for marriage and 

family life, this in most cases has left the girl-child traumatized, she 

has no support/love from her family and the family of the boy/man 

in most cases maltreated her for being imposed on them for 

marriage. This practice also affects the psychological health of the 

girl-child and the nutritional health of the girl and the unborn child. 

3.3 Some Harmful Widowhood Practices 

Widowhood is a life filled with grief, incompleteness and loneliness. 

However, despite this emotional stress that the widow is 

experiencing at the said period, there are still some cultural harmful 

practices that the poor widow is subjected to which to the belief of 

the people is aimed at exonerating her over the death of her spouse. 

A reasonable man is left to wonder why the widow should be the 

prime suspect over the death of her own partner, lover and spouse. 

Kamatikibiu (2017:2) observes that everything should be 

done to assist a widow in order to help her withstand the emotional 

and psychological trauma of a loss of a husband, however most 

African tradition add to the problem of the widows by maltreating 

her. Kamatikibiu (2017:4) in his empirical findings also discovers 



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that widows in Adamawa (in Northern Nigeria) were thrown out 

immediately after the burial of their late husband and properly left 

behind were shared among parents of the deceased while his wife 

and children are left in pain and penury There are some widowhood 

practices that are degrading, injurious, violent and a breach of the 

fundamental rights of widows in our society. They include, sharp 

shaving of the woman’s hair, subjecting the woman to stay with the 

corpse of the husband indoor for days, making a woman to drink of 

the water used in bathing of the corpse of the deceased spouse, 

denial of the widow of access to the deceased husband’s property, 

the woman is subjected to wear a particular dress for some months 

or even up to a year to show that she is mourning her deceased 

husband., denial of the widow of access to the deceased husband’s 

property, maltreatment by in-laws, eviction from her home 

especially by the in-laws who come to dispossess her of her 

husband’s assets especially where there is no male child or when the 

male is still a minor. 

It is pertinent to note that the International laws, the 1999 

Constitution of Nigeria and Violence against Persons (Prohibition 

Act, 2015), all provide against any form of molestation of women. 

Article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), 

Article 5 and 16 of the Convention on Elimination of all forms of 

Discrimination against women, all protect the women from being 

discriminated against by reason of their gender or status. 

3.4 Tribal Marking/ Scarifications 

Tribal marks are bodily marks that have been used for years in 

Africa to indicate a person’s tribal heritage. Tribal marks dates back 

to the 14th century by during the slave trade era, these marks were 

used by families to identify one another even when sold out to 

another country. Thus, it helps for the purpose of identification of a 

person’s tribe, family or patrilineal lineage (Yewande Adeleke, 



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2021). Tribal marks have also been said to be used for spiritual 

protection and healing purposes. Farida Dawkins, 2021) emphasized 

on the meanings of some African tribal marks as same can be used 

as a sign of beauty and for indication of one’s tribe. 

Times Reporter (2010) in recounting how Tribal marks are 

made, states that ‘a sharp object which could be a stone or coconut 

shell was pressed and dragged across the fresh in patterns or designs 

leaving behind cuts, then some dark pigment such as charcoal or 

other acerbic plant juice were rubbed into the wound to make 

permanent blisters, other used fish-hook to pull the skin and then 

slice it with a sharp object. Once the wound was inflicted, they were 

further inflamed by rubbing ash and other substances into it, when 

these cuts heal, they form heavy raised scars. The African tribal 

marks are as imposed by the cultural demands this is not the same 

with Tatoos that Americans and others do where they determine the 

kind of marks to be made, the part of the body, and when to make 

it. Africans believe that the facial marks scar the spirit of death away 

from them. 

3.4.1 How Tribal Marks Violates the Human Rights 

These tribal marks are inflicted on persons when they are still young 

and cannot make a choice. Its presumed benefits are already 

outdated and it is not acceptable by so many parents now. These 

tribal marks are inflicted using sharp objects which could be 

infected, the marking which is a scar could also attract infections, 

and furthermore, it could lead to bleeding as it is not done under the 

supervision of a healthcare service provider. The tribal mark could 

make a child withdrawn especially when in an era where no one 

values tribal marks. 

3.5 Virginity Test 

Virginity Test is a controversial practice that aims to determine 

whether a girl has had sexual intercourse or not (ISSM: 2022). ISSM 



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(2022) also noted that Virginity Testing is a practice that is known 

globally, however, its practice is higher in some parts of Africa, Asia 

and the Middle East. However, virginity test has also been found in 

Canada, Spain, Sweden and Netherlands. 

In South Africa, the Children’s Act (Act No. 38 of 2005) and 

its associated regulations provides for the practice of virginity 

testing which could be conducted on both the male and the female 

children over the age of 16, with their consent obtained. However, 

Behrens Kelvin G., 2014) argues that virginity Testing is unjustly 

targeted at the girl-child that it promotes patriarchal social order, it 

is discriminatory, that it has no reliable means of testing and that its 

result can be false. 

The United National Agencies has called out for the ban on 

virginity testing as such practice is discriminatory, painful, 

humiliating, traumatic and of no medical consequences. The United 

Nations Human Rights , United Nations Women and World Health 

Organization has condemned the practice of virginity testing for 

whatever reason which is usually for marriage or family or cultural 

purposes for employment purposes or even as a proof of penetration 

where there is an allegation of rape. 

In the traditional African society, virginity test is usually 

conducted by traditional experts, this practice is still ongoing despite 

the several calls by the United Nations and the World Health 

Organizations that same is an act of violence against women hence 

a violation of their human rights. 

3.6 Teeth Removal in Preparation for Marriage 

The practice of removing a girl’s teeth in preparation for marriage 

is mostly practiced by the Koma people. They mostly engage in 

endogenous marriage (which is a practice of marrying within a 

specific social group and rejecting suitors from outside the group). 

Between the ages of 10 to 14, children undergo puberty rituals where 



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the boys are circumcised and the girls have their teeth extracted- this 

practice they believe signals maturity (Around the World- Scooper 

News, 2021).  

Koma people consists the ethnic group in Northern 

Adamawa in the Atlantika Mountains which shares a border with 

Southern Cameroun. There exist 21 Koma villages in the 

Camerounian-side of the Alantika Mountains and 17 villages on the 

Nigerian side. (Wikipedia, 2012). The Koma people still maintain 

the Stone Age life style of living in cave-like settlement and going 

about naked, they only wear leaves and animal skins to cover only 

the vital parts of their body. According to their custom, marriage can 

only be performed after passing through the puberty rituals of 

circumcision (for boys) and teeth removal (for girls). (Nigera 

Galleria (2021).  

We know that it is of one’s best interest to preserve their 

culture and cultural heritage however we still hold that it should be 

within what is generally accepted as not a violation of one’s 

fundamental human rights. 

 

4. Conclusion/ Recommendation 

From all the analysis above, we have considered about eight (8) 

harmful cultural practices that are still practiced in our nation and 

how each of them poses a threat to one’s health and psychological 

development and especially the violation of the fundamental human 

rights of persons (especially women and children). We believe that 

a redress of these violations would mean an adjustment of the 

people’s cultural practices. We are not advocating however for the 

eradication of our cultural heritage but only seek for its adjustment 

to the extent of which it violates the rights of individuals especially 

the most vulnerable persons such as children and women. Most of 



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these practices have also been condemned by the World Health 

Organization (WHO) and the UNICEF. 

From this research work, we have discovered some areas 

where further studies can be pursued, and that is on the rationale 

behind the Koma People teeth removal of matured girls in 

preparation for marriage, we believe an investigation into the main 

act or event that led to the origin of that culture and its advantages 

to the people. 

 

References 

Ncube N. A. (2018). The Clash between Human Rights and culture: 

Case studies of South Africa and Zimbabwe, Thesis in 

fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts 

(Political Science) in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences 

at Stellen Bosch University.) 

Around the World (2021). Meet the Koma People who Remove 

Girl’s Teeth to prepare them for Marriage. Scooper News. 

Cdnscopernews.com 

FactSheet, No. 23, Harmful Traditional practices affecting the 

Health of women and children. 

www.ohchr.org>publications  

Farida Dawkins (2021). African Tribal Marks and their Meanings.  

www.weafriquenations.com 

Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (2016). Nigeria: 

Prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) 

INCLUDING Ethnic groups in which FGM is prevalent. 

Refworld. www.refworld.org NGA105628.E in 

Leadership 6 Feb. 2016, Borgen Magazine 19 Feb. 2014 

Internal Labour Organization (2021) What is Child Labour. ILO.  

www.ilo.org ) 

http://www.weafriquenations.com/
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