In Southern Ethiopia I met Baidae, a young Hamer bride who was going through her induction into her new family. She had to spend the first 6 months inside her hut, looked after by her husband’s family and forbidden from doing any manual labour, leaving only to use the bathroom. Each morning, her husband’s mother and sisters covered her entire body in a paste made from ochre, butter from a cow or goat and incense - scraping it off in the evening and repeating the entire process the next day. When we met Baidae she was 2 months into her 6 month confinement.
