In 1990 a wave of genitalia theft spread through Nigeria.
Scores of men and quite a few women became “victims” of the crime in markets or other public places. These victims would claim that they felt a burning or other obscure sensation in their genital area the moment some unlucky stranger happened to bump into them. Accusing the stranger of genital theft, the victims would undress themselves to prove the theft to the bystanders. As the appendages usually remained in their normal location, the “victims” would then claim that their organs now lacked their former glory – even calling them ghost-penises.
Nigeria 1990
The outbreak in Nigeria was not the first or last of its kind. Throughout Africa these events of mass hysteria have led to the murders of countless innocent men, women and children as angry mobs usually assault and stone the suspected “thieves” to death. The 1990’s Nigerian epidemic eventually spread to Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal. In 2003 there were episodes in Sudan and Gambia, in 2008 the Democratic Republic of Congo had an outbreak and earlier this year two men became victims of the bizarre ailment in the remote African village of Tiringoulou in Central Africa.
Westerners may scoff at such a ridiculous notion, but to the victims the episodes were as real as it gets. In 2010 a Gallup poll found that belief in magic and witchcraft was widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, 55% of the people who took part in the poll confirmed that they personally believe in witchcraft. As such, the belief in vanishing genitalia or the witchcraft associated with it is not only plausible, it actually forms part of the victim’s belief systems and traditions. During the Nigerian episode in 1990, quite a few influential Nigerians were outraged when suspected thieves were released by the police. One Christian priest went so far as to claim that the Bible passage found in Luke 8:46 – “But Jesus said, “Someone touched me. I know that power has gone out from me.” – referred to genital theft.
There are many factors responsible for the development and the rapid escalation of these epidemics in Africa.
- One usually finds these episodes in urban communities – scholars believe it to be an expression of the anxieties that come to be when villagers become urbanites and have to live between strangers
- It is made plausible by cultural beliefs and stereotypes
- Rumours add fuel to the fire – in certain instances it was believed the stolen organs were used in ceremonies or sold in the illicit organ trade
- The reinforcing actions by politicians or other authority figures gives the victims and general public a sense of being correct or validated
- The accompanying anxiety or excitement ultimately leads to uncontrolled and violent conclusions.
Today these episodes are defined by psychiatrists as “Koro”. Seen as a psychological illness/mental disorder, it is described as a culture-specific syndrome related to an individual’s belief that his/her genitals are shrinking and or disappearing – even though there are no observable changes to the genitals. It may seem obscure and bizarre to most of us, but imagine what a person in a remote African village would think of the fact that some Westerners inject their faces full of venom to appear younger for longer…
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http://www.csicop.org/si/show/mass_delusions_and_hysterias_highlights_from_the_past_millennium/
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