STAR FEAT Women who beg t whipped to show t
Women from the Ethiopia’s Hamar tribe are whipped to show their love for men going through the Rite of Passage ceremony. Their scars are said to demonstrate their capacity for love, and allows them to call on help from those who marked them. The tradition is known as Ukuli Bula, and women beg men to whip them during the ceremony
Akey element of the ceremony is the whipping of young women who are family members or relatives of the boy undertaking the Rite-of-Passage. The women trumpet and sing, extolling the virtues of the Jumper, declaring their love for him and for their desire to be marked by the whip. They coat their bodies with butter to lessen the effect of the whipping which is only carried out by Maza - those who have already undergone this Rite-ofPassage.
Some whipping appears to be tender, others more aggressive. But once whipped, the girls proudly show off their scars - as proof of their courage and integrity. It ís a kind of Insurance Policy. The ceremony tends to unite the family and is a demonstration of the women’s capacity for love, and in later life - perhaps when they’ve become widowed - they will look to the boys who whipped them years before to request help. The scars on her back are said to be proof of her sacrifice for the man, and it is therefore impossible for the man to refuse her needs in hard times or emergencies.
Hamar women of the Lower Omo Valley, Southern Ethiopia willingly submit themselves to be whipped during the ceremony of Ukuli Bula. It indicates their courage and capacity for love, and is a form of insurance policy. Should they fall on hard times in later life, they will look to the boy who whipped them to request help.
To the south of Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, lies the tribal animist area. It stretches from Addis all the way to Lake Turkana, formerly