Bizarre as it may be for many people, there is a growing culture of men demanding to suckle on breast milk that is resurfacing in Tanzania.
A section of women in Tanzania's coastal region of Tanga has been complaining about their spouses who have developed an unusual taste for breast milk.
The practice seems to be peddled by the narrative that this improves sexual performance and muscle building among men.
In response, the government in Tanzania has issued a stern warning against the practice which has severely impacted the health of infant children, denying them much-needed nutrients, leaving them with malnutrition.
Men drinking their partners’ breast milk is not uncommon in some areas of Uganda, and in parts of Tanzania and Kenya.
The reasons for the phenomenon, and its consequences, are now the subject of what is believed to be the 2020 first preliminary study into the practice, by Kyambogo University in Kampala and Britain’s University of Kent, supported by the Global Challenges Research Fund.
“It was very much an exploratory mission. We didn’t know if we would find anybody willing to talk to us who admitted to doing it. We didn’t even really know if it was real or not,” said Dr Rowena Merritt, a British behavioural scientist who specialises in public health, and a lead researcher on the project.
Dr Peter Rukundo, a senior lecturer at Kyambogo University who assisted with the research said, “there is a belief in some communities that breast milk has energising and curative powers, even curing diseases such as HIV and Aids and cancer,”
Health professionals, including midwives and nutritionists, told researchers about cases where babies had to be given formula milk because partners wanted the breast milk, and where women came to the clinic with infected or bitten nipples caused by a man suckling. There are also risks to babies of cross-infection from the man’s saliva.
Some of the interviewees claimed that they found it energising and even relieved them from stress.
Some said it was a way to initiate sex and affection towards their women but it’s usually more effective among women who have just given birth.
The practice has been linked to gender-based violence in some parts of Uganda especially when men were drunk, becoming violent towards their women when demanding to suckle.