Women in Mauritania
Women in Atar, Mauritania, 2006 | |
| General Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Maternal mortality (per 100,000) | 510 (2010) |
| Women in parliament | 25% (2017) |
| Women over 25 with secondary education | 8.0% (2010) |
| Women in labour force | 32% (2017) |
| Gender Inequality Index | |
| Value | 0.632 (2021) |
| Rank | 161st out of 191 |
| Global Gender Gap Index | |
| Value | 0.606 (2021) |
| Rank | 145th out of 156 |
| Part of a series on |
| Women in society |
|---|
Issues impacting Women in Mauritanian society include female genital mutilation, child marriage, and polygamy.
The practice of Leblouh (Arabic: البلوح, romanized: lə-blūḥ) is the practice of force-feeding girls from as young as five, through to teenagers, in Mauritania, Western Sahara, and southern Morocco, where obesity is traditionally regarded as being desirable.
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 girl might typically be forced to drink 20 litres (4.4 imp gal; 5.3 US gal) of camel's milk, and eat two kilos of pounded millet 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.
The practice goes back to the 11th century, and has been reported to have made a significant comeback in Mauritania after a military junta took over Mauritania in 2008.