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15 Inhumane Practices That Still Exist

15 Inhumane Practices That Still Exist

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Get ready to feel either very grateful to live in the part of the world where you do, or perhaps a little terrified. These inhumane practices are still happening, and sometimes in more modern areas than you’d expect.

deviantart.com
deviantart.com

Cannibalism

There have been recent incidents of cannibalism discovered in several areas of the world, including in Brazil, where some individuals murdered several woman, ate parts of them, and turned the rest into empanadas which they sold.

Source: Nbcnews.com

Wikipedia.org
Wikipedia.org

Witch hunts

In Papua New Guinea, many still believe in witchcraft and sorcery, and when misfortune falls on an individual or community. In several provinces an estimated 150 men, women and even children are burnt to death on a yearly basis, when suspected of witchcraft. Often, the people who were last seen with someone who dies or suffers an ill fate are the ones accused of black magic.

Source: Thediplomat.com

frontpagemag.com
frontpagemag.com

 

Forced labor

Tragically, slavery is far from over. In fact, some researchers say it’s never been more prevalent. An estimated 60,000 slaves live in the United States, and there could be nearly 30 million slaves worldwide. This number includes forced laborers, forced prostitutes, and child soldiers. Mauritania is reportedly the country where someone is most likely to be enslaved.

 

Source: Washingtonpost.com 

Wikimedia.org
Wikimedia.org

Bloodletting

Bloodletting is a tradition in Shi’ite communities across the world. Lamenting that they were unable to fight in a battle and save the life of a historical figure, young boys are hit on the head with daggers, spilling blood in the streets.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk 

Wikipedia.org
Wikipedia.org

Pulling a tooth for manhood

In some Australian tribes, when a young man or woman becomes an adult, he or she undergoes the ritual of teeth pulling. This is performed without anesthesia, and the individual simply lays his or her head on the lap of an older person, who then knocks out a tooth with a sharp wooden spear.

Source: Sacred-texts.com

Wikipedia.org
Wikipedia.org

 

Child marriage

A 2010 study found that 67 million women around the world between the age of 20 and 24 had been married before the age of 18. Research has found that child marriage is especially prevalent in poor households and developing countries, and over half the girls in Bangladesh, Mali, Mozambique and Niger are married before 18. The consequences of this are devastating, as child brides run a much higher risk of dying during childbirth, experiencing domestic violence, or contracting STDs.

Source: Icrw.org

Geograph.org.uk
Geograph.org.uk

Public execution

In response to a rising rate of violent crime, Iran moved executions from behind the walls of prisons out into the street, supposedly to instill fear into would-be criminals. In 2013, hundreds of people came to watch the public hanging of two men in a public park in Iran.

Source: Nytimes.com

Wikipedia.org
Wikipedia.org

 

Female genital mutilation

One study done in Senegal found that around 20 percent of women in the country had undergone genital mutilation. The practice is most common in rural areas and is quite gruesome, usually involving the removal of part or all of the clitoris, or a cutting and narrowing of the vagina. Ninety percent of women who undergo this are between two and five years old at the time.

Source: Refworld.org

Wikipedia.org
Wikipedia.org

Eating ashes

Among the Yanomamö tribe living on the shores of the Amazon, it’s common to eat the ashes of dead loved ones. The tribe does not bury corpses but instead burns them, collects the bones, and mashes them up into ashes. Traditionally, these ashes are saved until it’s time for another festivity in the tribe, at which time they’re mashed up with bananas and eaten. The tribe sees it as a way of honoring the dead.

Source: Academia.edu

Wikipedia.org
Wikipedia.org

Sacrificing animals

During certain Hindu Festivals, animals are still ritually slaughtered and sacrificed. The spilling of animal blood is meant to appease evil spirits, and is widely accepted in India. One study found that a Hindu family might offer between five and 24 animals per year in ceremonies.

Source: Hinduismtoday.com

Wikipedia.org
Wikipedia.org

 

Human sacrifice

Although it is illegal, human sacrifice is still practiced in some Hindu communities. One such practice is called Sati, in which a recent widow will throw herself onto the burning pyre of her husband’s body, and burn to death with him.

Source: Kashgar.com

Wikimedia.org
Wikimedia.org

Subincision of the urethra

Subincision of the urethra (a splitting of the penis from tip to base) mainly still exists in aborigine tribes in northwest and central areas of Australia. It’s done for several reasons, including ideas of sanitation, a right of passage into manhood, notions of enhanced fertility and control of sexual urges.

Source: Books.google.com

Wikimedia.org
Wikimedia.org

Stoning

Stoning is not just public execution, but a vicious and humiliating form. The process involves burying a conceived criminal in a hole, covering him or her with soil up to the neck, and throwing stones at the individual until death. Stoning is still legal in Afghanistan, Iran, parts of Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates. Adulterers are the most common victims of the torture.

Source: Nbcnews.com

blog.magazines.com
blog.magazines.com

 

Infanticide

The Netherlands recently passed a bill allowing the euthanasia of terminally ill newborns. Belgium is the first country to remove any age restrictions on the practice of euthanasia. Groups the world over asked Belgium not to pass the bill but ultimately, it passed. The practice is only meant to be used on infants that are terminally ill, near death or enduring suffering beyond medical help.

Source: Time.com

Wikipedia.org
Wikipedia.org

Blood fiestas

In Spain, absolutely brutal things called blood fiestas happen where people get together and inflict pain on bulls, cows, goats and other types of cattle. It’s upsetting enough to know the basics about it, but more details can be found in the source.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk