Travel advisory: Penis theft in Africa
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2...e.html?cmp=rss
http://news.yahoo.com/penis-snatchin...182137805.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koro_(penis_panic)
This is not the setup to a joke; it is a real psychological disorder called koro in which victims (mostly men, but sometimes women) come to believe that their genitals are shrinking or retracting into the body. The concern is not only for their sexuality, but also for their lives, since they believe that the condition may be life threatening if not reversed. In order to prevent further shrinkage, victims have been known to securely tie their penises with string or metal clamps — even sometimes having family members hold it in relays until treatment can be sought, usually from shamen or traditional healers."In recent years, news media in several West African countries have reported periodic episodes of 'panic' in which men and women are beaten, sometimes to death, after being accused of causing penises, breasts, and vaginas to shrink or disappear," wrote Vivian Dzokoto and Glenn Adams in a study published in 2005 in the journal Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry. "At least 56 separate cases of genital shrinking, disappearance, and snatching have been reported in the last seven years [1998-2005] by news media of seven West African countries."
Victims of koro usually believe that a touch or "accidental" brush with a stranger caused the theft, in the same way that a pickpocket might steal a wallet.
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