ETHIOPIA: A naked teen must ruun, jump, and skip over the back of a row of bulls in a curious initiation into manhood. SHOCKING pictures show the stra

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ETHIOPIA: A naked teen must ruun, jump, and skip over the back of a row of bulls in a curious initiation into manhood. SHOCKING pictures show the strange customs of tribes in the Omo Valley where women are WHIPPED UNTIL THEY BLEED by potential suitors – and they seem happy about it. Graphic photos of the tribes of the Omo Valley in south west Ethiopia portray women proudly displaying their fresh scars alongside old ones; a teenager donned in war paint cradling an AK47; and an elderly woman’s gnarled lip after she removed her enormous decorative plate. The Omo River – and the valley that feeds it – is home to approximately 200,000 people, split over numerous tribes including the Kara, Mursi, Hamar, Suri, Nyangatom, Kwegu, and Dassanech. Inter-ethnic clashes are frequent and blood often split – sometimes to prevent cattle rustling or to defend territory but just as often in a whipping ceremony between two would-be partners. Mediadrumimages/DaleMorris

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Size: 2923px × 4740px
Photo credit: © Media Drum World / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: ak47, blood, bull, cows, dam, devotion, drum, ethiopia, globalisation, jump., lip, mdrum, mdw, media, mediadrumimages, mediadrumworld, omo, photography, power, ring, river, scarification, scars, tribes, valley, war, whipping, world