Hamar people, an indigenous community living in the South Omo Valley region of southwestern Ethiopia.
They are polygamists in addition to being nomads.They hold a customary event called bull-jumping ceremony known as "ukuli" or similar, a major rite of passage for young men transitioning into adulthood and becoming eligible for marriage.
Before or during the event, women typically close female relatives like sisters, cousins, or sometimes mothers/aunts of the initiate participate in a ritual whipping.
The whipping occurs as part of the preparations or festivities surrounding the young man's bull-jumping test, where he must leap over a line of bulls usually 7–10 castrated ones multiple times without falling to prove maturity, readiness for marriage, and adulthood.
Women actively participate by begging or provoking the men known as "maza" successful previous initiates who whip with thin, flexible sticks or branches to whip them on the back and arms.
They taunt, dance, and even hand the whips to the men, enduring repeated lashes that often draw blood and leave permanent crisscross scars.
The women often actively seek out the whipping, handing the sticks to the men, dancing, jeering, or insisting on more lashes. From the Hamar perspective, this is not abuse but a consensual, joyful in cultural terms lact of solidarity and pride. Scars are worn proudly, and refusing to participate could diminish social standing.
This tradition attracts controversy and debate outside the community, with some viewing it as gender-based violence or harm, while others emphasize cultural context, voluntary participation, and its deep meaning within hammar identity.
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