The Hamar people are a community inhabiting southwestern Ethiopia. They live in Hamer woreda, a fertile part of the Omo River valley, in the Debub Omo Zone of the Southern Nations. They are largely pastoralists, so their culture places a high value on cattle.
In the tradition known as Ukuli Bula, women are whipped as part of a Rite of passage ceremony for boys, when female family members declare their love for the young man at the heart of the celebration.
Which then allows the boy to marry since the ceremony makes him a man.
A key element of the ceremony is the whipping of young female family members of the Rite-of-Passage celebrant, held at the Omo River Valley.
The women trumpets, singing, and jumping, declaring their love for him and begging for their desire to be marked by the whip.
Once whipped, the girls proudly show off their scars as proof of their courage and integrity. Some whipping appears to be tender, others more fierce.
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-of-Passage.
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