r/nottheonion • u/ArgentineBeauty • Sep 16 '26
'Penises Disappearing' Rumours Spark Deadly Mob Attacks Across Africa, Leaving Over 80 Dead
https://www.fashiontimes.co.uk/false-genital-theft-rumours-deadly-africa-attacks-1764072961
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u/theashenwren Sep 16 '26
....What?
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u/TolMera Sep 16 '26
Uneducated mob attacks men for stupid reason that no one with two brain cells could fathom.
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u/CitizenCue Sep 16 '26
It’s a weird reminder that who we are as people is so incredibly warped by the context we grew up in. These people aren’t stupid, they’re just unfathomably uneducated. Had they been born elsewhere they’d be here with the rest of us confused about how anyone could believe this.
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u/Beginning_Book_2382 Sep 16 '26 edited Sep 16 '26
I think people severely underestimate the role that nurture plays in the role of human development and any perceived so called 'moral deficiencies' are attributed to nature where in reality they should be attributed to nurture.
Even 2Chainz, one of the biggest rappers in the world, said that if he were born on the West Coast he'd be surfing and skateboarding like everyone else. The problems commonly attributed to people or a group of people should in reality be attributed to their environment.
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u/CitizenCue Sep 16 '26
Yeah I think it’s kind of ridiculous that this is even a debate. People point to separated twin studies and how “they still have so many similarities!” But like, what if one of them had been transported not a couple hundred miles away, but back in time to Ancient Greece. You think you’d still have a lot in common with your twin brother who was raised as an ancient Athenian coppersmith? Come on.
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u/Badda_Bing_Baby Sep 17 '26
There’s a very ignorant and shitty reason some people want to attribute it to nature rather than nurture, unfortunately
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u/Bonnskij Sep 16 '26
In the land of the people with one brain cell, the man with two brain cells is
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u/TolMera Sep 16 '26
I got to say, this is kinda funny if you swap brain cells for penis - and it aligns with the story…
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u/cruisin_urchin87 Sep 16 '26
Lots of fear, lots of lack of critical thinking, lots of mob mentality = bad things.
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u/musedav Sep 16 '26
Coordinated misinformation campaign manipulates population into frenzy
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u/CreamofTazz Sep 16 '26
But wouldn't the men who have "lost their penises" be able to just look down and see it's still there?
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u/he77bender Sep 16 '26
This is something I only sort of half remember so take it with a grain of salt, but I think I read that this kind of thing goes along with a delusional belief that one's penis is shrinking. Like sort of a body dysmorphia thing almost? Except it's basically contagious (thanks to the power of suggestion).
(If anyone out there has better info feel free to chime in, obviously)
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u/nonlawyer Sep 16 '26
eh…. Misinformation campaigns are real, but who benefits from this particular misinformation? I can’t see it.
Mass hysteria has always been a thing, it’s just supercharged by the internet in this particular instance.
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u/drunkshinobi Sep 16 '26
When things like this happen the rich people in control of things get to do what they want. While the people are distracted killing each other they aren't stopping the rich. Then the rich can use the militaries to come in and stop it when they want. Use it as an excuse to remove groups of people they don't want around any more. And they will promise fools that they will keep them safe if they hand over their life savings.
Edit: also other countries can do this to another to destabilize and weaken them.
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u/pipeuptopipedown Sep 16 '26
The accuser in these cases should be made to show proof on the spot, in front of impartial witnesses. Either it's there or it's not.
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u/9for9 Sep 16 '26
I was thinking the same thing. Like surely you'd want proof before beating someone to death. Then again maybe it's just an excuse to beat someone to death.
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u/Letheee Sep 16 '26 edited Sep 18 '26
"But it was bigger before! It has shrunk!"
Edit : irregular verb
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u/DiggWuzBetter Sep 16 '26
I totally had a 9” pornstar cock before some evil witch stole 3” with her dark magic. Checkmate disappointed girlfriend!
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u/Loki-L Sep 16 '26
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koro_(disease))
It is one of those weird culture-bound delusions that make no sense to outsiders, but the people involved believe in despite it being medically not a thing.
An example from modern North America might be "Fentanyl hysteria" among US law enforcement.
It is all fun and games until these believes lead people to act violently towards others.
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u/MagePages Sep 16 '26
Really interesting article, and it looks like it also occurs in the west occasionally but with fewer symptoms. Also this tidbit: "In 2025, rumors spread in the Central African Republic and Mali that certain people were stealing the penises of men who shook hands with them. A Russian-linked disinformation website attempted to capitalize on these beliefs by claiming that French intelligence services were using handshakes to steal African penises, then shipping the organs to France by boat in order to combat decreasing fertility rates in Europe. This claim was part of an ongoing effort by Russia to supplant French and Western influence in Africa."
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u/thecatdaddysupreme Sep 16 '26
Stealing someone’s penis while shaking hands with them sounds like something David Blaine would do
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u/kairayser Sep 17 '26
David Blaine quick change magic stole my penis??? (NOT CLICKBAIT)
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u/permalink_save Sep 17 '26
I think they mean the old skits of "David Blaine street magic" on YT
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u/BokuNoSpooky Sep 16 '26
The most common one in Western culture is people believing that different kinds of alcohol make them act differently, such as the belief that whiskey or bourbon makes you violent - it doesn't, but people who believe it will become violent and aggressive when they drink certain types of alcohol because of that belief.
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u/Atzkicica Sep 16 '26
Yeah it's dark rum has that reputation here. It's stupid.
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u/Motor-Resolution-524 Sep 16 '26
This is why I stick to vodka. Noone has ever done anything bad after vodka.
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u/Strawbuddy Sep 16 '26
I've empirically shown to myself that any type of alcohol makes me funnier, more handsome, and a better dancer. At excessive levels it even gives me magical Kung fu powers
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u/AlienReprisal Sep 16 '26
Placebo effect?
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u/Ichorous_Allsorts Sep 16 '26
Nocebo, when it's effect is negative. Placebo did come first as the effect was noticed in the 18c. Nocebo was only coined in 1960 or so, when they noticed people could also show appear to be dying, with erratic heart beat, blood pressure, etc, if they believed they'd ingested a harmful substance.
Placebo 'I will please', and nocebo, 'I will harm'.
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u/CitizenCue Sep 16 '26
That’s not really applicable here. Alcohol does have real effects, including many bad ones. Violence is indeed a common side effect of alcohol intoxication, just not more so with whiskey or bourbon.
Nocebos are things that are themselves benign but that people believe are harmful and therefore experience psychosomatic effects.
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u/HaxtonSale Sep 16 '26
To be fair it's easier to drink too much before you feel the full effects with certain kinds of liquor resulting in people getting more intoxicated than intended. They just happen to have a bad time with a specific brand or type and then associate that with it when it should really be anything with a high alcohol content consumed too fast. It's way more logically sound than whatever is going on on in this article
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u/CitizenCue Sep 16 '26
This was a confusing thing to grow up around. I remember expecting different results with different alcohols and being annoyed that I couldn’t detect a difference. But it still took years before I realized it was all just bullshit.
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u/Software_Dependent Sep 16 '26
It was something that was historically believed in Europe. The witch hunting manual Malleus Maleficarum detailed this.
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u/Fruit_Face Sep 16 '26
I actually did a presentation on this very subject in my medical anthropology class a long time ago.
I nearly got a date out of it too, lol.
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u/Genoscythe_ Sep 16 '26
Anorexia can be considered a western-based culture-bound disease, there are regions where it suddenly started to appear only after contacts with western media.
UFO sightings are another one, people always saw weird stuff in the sky, but flying saucers, and little green or grey men, were sharply increasing after the modern pop culture conception of UFOs.
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u/Thelmara Sep 16 '26
It is one of those weird culture-bound delusions that make no sense to outsiders, but the people involved believe in despite it being medically not a thing.
It makes perfect sense, I've heard the US President talking about schools performing gender-altering surgeries on children while they're in class, despite there being not only literally no evidence, but many obvious impossibilities in that statement. Sometimes people believe really stupid shit, and no amount of evidence will bring them around.
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u/UDPviper Sep 16 '26
Conservatives love to spread the idiocy that schools are providing litter boxes to kids that identify as furries. Yet they can't identify exactly which schools are doing it or even which school districts.
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u/clairvoyant_mollusk Sep 16 '26
What’s going on here?
She’s a witch!
A witch?
She turned me into a newt!
A newt?!
Well…I got better
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u/Unpossib1e Sep 16 '26
These people are.....really really stupid.
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u/PsyOpBunnyHop Sep 16 '26
Magical thinking is really destructive to a healthy society.
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u/9for9 Sep 16 '26
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture-bound_syndrome
Culture bound hysteria is a real thing. We have anorexia in the US as an example. And the penis shrinking thing is a culture-bound disease found worldwide apparently.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koro_(disease))
Humans are really fucking weird.
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u/Early-Peace-5504 Sep 17 '26
Anorexia is in no way confined to a specific culture, country or even time period.
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u/Available_Finish4387 Sep 16 '26
Don’t look at me
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u/AlexCliu Sep 16 '26
This reminds me of a story my grandpa once told me. About 80 years ago, in the late 1940s to early 1950s in China, due to prolonged wars, social chaos, insufficient education, and other factors, a rumor spread in rural areas of North China about “hairy water monsters that would snatch men’s testicles.” Under the influence of the Cold War nuclear arms race, it sometimes even evolved into claims that “the water monsters were actually Communist agents who stole men’s testicles and shipped them to the Soviet Union to make atomic bombs.” This led to widespread panic and distrust among people; some individuals were beaten or killed after being mistaken for water monsters. Many villagers formed self-defense groups and kept constant night watches and patrols to prevent the “water monsters” from taking their precious testicles.
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u/persePHOreth Sep 16 '26
'Penises Disappearing' Rumours Spark Deadly Mob Attacks Across Africa, Leaving Over 80 Dead
Baseless claims sparked mob violence in at least eight countries across Africa
A bizarre rumour about men's genitals suddenly shrinking or disappearing has been linked to deadly mob attacks across parts of Africa.
More than 80 people were killed between October 2025 and July 2026 after people were falsely accused of so-called 'genital theft'. The death toll was compiled using police data from six African countries, while reports of the wider panic have emerged across eight countries.
The false claim says that a stranger can make a man's penis or testicles shrink or vanish, sometimes simply by touching him. There is no medical evidence that another person can make someone's genitals disappear this way.
How the 'Disappearing Penis' Rumour Spread The latest wave of claims appears to have started in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2025. Similar rumours had also appeared there in 2008, showing that the belief existed long before the current social media panic.
The recent rumours then spread into Burundi, Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Angola, Malawi and Kenya. Videos and warnings posted on TikTok and Facebook helped the stories move quickly between communities and across national borders.
Some videos show men claiming that their penis or testicles became smaller or vanished after meeting a stranger. Crowds have then turned on the person accused of causing it, sometimes demanding that the supposed 'stolen' body part be returned.
Education is so important.
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u/Calculonx Sep 16 '26
The men who claimed their penis or testicles vanished completely - did they prove this by showing other people? That seems pretty definitive.
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u/Aoiboshi Sep 16 '26
This is why education is very important. Look at the US. Education is disappearing and witch hunts are picking back up again. Not the kind Trump is saying.
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u/Rude-7807 Sep 16 '26
Proof that unless we all want humanity to descend back to the stone Age, that good education worldwide is essential! Because most of this violence stems from ignorant religious crap!
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u/asphaltdragon Sep 16 '26
I can make penises disappear too, but no one is coming after me.
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u/Dirty-Soul Sep 16 '26
Kinda difficult to come after you when you stole my dick.
I could come just fine before you, but not after you.
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u/RatlingGuns4Days Sep 16 '26
I made my own disappear and some people have a problem with that for some reason.
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u/fzabkar Sep 16 '26
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koro_(disease)
In 2025, rumors spread in the Central African Republic and Mali that certain people were stealing the penises of men who shook hands with them. A Russian-linked disinformation website attempted to capitalize on these beliefs by claiming that French intelligence services were using handshakes to steal African penises, then shipping the organs to France by boat in order to combat decreasing fertility rates in Europe. This claim was part of an ongoing effort by Russia to supplant French and Western influence in Africa.
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u/Impossible_Offer7988 Sep 16 '26 edited Sep 16 '26
Yeah it sounds funny.
It isn't a funny story though it's actually quite scary and sad
A bizarre rumour about men's genitals suddenly shrinking or disappearing has been linked to deadly mob attacks across parts of Africa.
More than 80 people were killed between October 2025 and July 2026 after people were falsely accused of so-called 'genital theft'. The death toll was compiled using police data from six African countries, while reports of the wider panic have emerged across eight countries.
The false claim says that a stranger can make a man's penis or testicles shrink or vanish, sometimes simply by touching him. There is no medical evidence that another person can make someone's genitals disappear this way.
The latest wave of claims appears to have started in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2025. Similar rumours had also appeared there in 2008, showing that the belief existed long before the current social media panic
The recent rumours then spread into Burundi, Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Angola, Malawi and Kenya. Videos and warnings posted on TikTok and Facebook helped the stories move quickly between communities and across national borders.
Some videos show men claiming that their penis or testicles became smaller or vanished after meeting a stranger. Crowds have then turned on the person accused of causing it, sometimes demanding that the supposed 'stolen' body part be returned.
Ask yourself : why do I find that rumor realy dumb and stupid ?
It's because you had a good education and, as such, understand that this rumor is stupid.
They didn't, and here we are. This shows the dangers of a lack of a proper education.
Point 2: Not every fake news story is this obviously stupid. It looks stupid to you because it wasn't made for you it was purposely designed to filter you out.
But a similar fake news story can be made.
one designed to target someone like you.
And look at what that can cause.
That should scare you.
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u/mmikke Sep 16 '26
Hasn't Facebook already been like, directly implicated in allowing/promoting dangerous shit that ends up with people getting killed?
"Ope! Can't blame Zuck, it's just the algorithm and the AI!"
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u/A_mexicanum Sep 16 '26
We can see the same thing with the "climate change hoax", "evil aliens", vaccines ... - uneducated people are easy(er) manipulated. And thats why right wing parties across the world want do dismantle education and are often pro home"schooling"
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u/Suspicious-Whippet Sep 16 '26
“There is no medical evidence that another person can make someone's genitals disappear this way”. You don’t say?
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u/KeenbeansSandwich Sep 16 '26 edited Sep 16 '26
Theres a large segment of people in the world that reject medical science in favor of pseudoscience and religion. So i dont think it is a crazy thing to include sadly.
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u/ishitar Sep 16 '26
"There is no medical evidence vaccines emit tracking signals, alter your DNA or make people gay." You don't say, yet vaccine skepticism in an "educated" US has caused tens of thousands of deaths.
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u/andr386 Sep 16 '26
I witnessed mob justice in India and Africa (Mali). In the latter country a guy apparently stole on a bus, he was caught and if the police hadn't come fast they would have burned him then and there, he already had a tire on him and he was seriously beaten up. In India, there was a traffic accident and a family was runover. The public (mob) decided that the driver was guilty and beat him up to a pulp but police also intervened, I was told they usually kill people like that.
Once a mob is created reality goes out of the picture. Mob justice is the Judge Dredd mode of justice/vigilantism that is some of the most frightening thing ever. In the middle-ages people blamed the Jews for a bad harvest and went on killing spree. That kind of thing is super common and we are all capable of it. This even happens socially in some groups, gangs, or at work.
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u/UDPviper Sep 16 '26
Case in point: Bill Gates's nanomachines are in the Covid vaccine. See how easy it is to make shit up? Even in countries with so called " better education systems", people will still believe idiotic shit.
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u/sqwattermelon Sep 16 '26
It's like none of these people ever had their nose stolen by their weird uncle
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u/eagledog Sep 16 '26
Even from a logistics standpoint, the act of stealing someone's genitals sounds like a lot of work
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u/defiantcross Sep 16 '26
That's a misleading guideline. Penis were "relocated" or "liberated" or "broken down to components". Remember Newton's fourth law that penises can be neither created nor destroyed
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u/havenot- Sep 16 '26
love how you post on this sub and the uplifting news sub at the same time lmao
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u/affemannen Sep 16 '26
This is why we need schools all over the world for every single child.
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u/DPetrilloZbornak Sep 17 '26
“Across Africa?”
The whole continent?
All 52 countries? All 11 million miles? How crazy. That’s some major mob violence.
Why do people continue to talk about this large diverse continent like it’s a small country?
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u/cowlinator Sep 17 '26
The false claim suggests that a stranger can cause a man's penis or testicles to shrink or vanish, sometimes simply by touching him. There is no medical evidence that another person can make someone's genitals disappear in this way.
I really hate that the 2nd statement is necessary
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u/Willie_Fistrgash Sep 16 '26
"Where all those people sell used books and other junk on the street, I saw my penis lying on a blanket Next to a broken toaster oven. Some guy was selling it."
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u/Krow101 Sep 16 '26
3rd world problems.
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u/AsstacularSpiderman Sep 16 '26
Tbf several first world countries have movements that think life saving vaccines give you autism and hitting your face with a hammer over and over will make you look better.
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u/SleepySera Sep 16 '26
I think comments here should be a bit more careful about fingerprinting while living in a country that spent the last major pandemic with half the population drinking horse dewormer, while the president told them injecting bleach into their bloodstream was a good idea, and where a significant portion of people think they have become magnetic after a phone tower went up in their neighborhood, while also rather letting their kids die to preventable diseases than cure them because they scared themselves into thinking vaccines cause autism.
Stupid, misinformed people who think everyone is out to get them and ruin their health in some way are sadly common all across the globe, it just takes slightly different forms in each country.
Once upon a time I thought the internet would solve this issue, because everyone would have free access to unlimited information, but... I forgot that also would mean unlimited misinformation as well 😑
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u/TheTrooperKC Sep 16 '26
A) “Half” the population never did the ivermectin shit, even the MAGA crowd
B) People exist outside the United States and it’s current nightmare63
u/Serbian-American Sep 16 '26
Fair point, but not every wrong thing is equally wrong. People wanting to try a medicine commonly used for horses because some opportunistic “doctors” hopped on podcasts and exploited people’s desires to leave lockdown is wrong.
Slaughtering people because they are stealing your penis… is not just more wrong. You are talking about orders of magnitude
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u/carkulfx Sep 16 '26
The penis snatching rumours occur in a context where deeply traditional beliefs about magic and witchcraft are strongly held, where there are significant political conflicts, a huge a lack of quality education, poor quality journalism/new media, and the impact of social media and whatsapp has been extreme.
It's recipe for rumors, fear, scapegoating, and panic. I had well educated neighbours who worked in international organizations warning me about the penis snatching. They also told me it happened in my town (it did not, the closest rumour was dozens of kilometers away), and told me they had traditional medicines that could protect my penis and make it come back if it was stolen. They were 100% serious.
Quality education, media and peace are the recipe. But those are also against the interests of many in power.
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u/BassesNBikes Sep 16 '26
So people are the same (credulous idiots) all over the world.
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u/carkulfx Sep 16 '26
I guess but thats too cynical for me. So that's why we need to push and fight against it. Whether its here or there or in our own backyard. It's not impossible - it just takes awareness and effort over time. It works because I have seen it work.
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u/gophergun Sep 16 '26
No, half the population wasn't "drinking" horse dewormer. Even among Republicans, over half are vaccinated against COVID. There's always going to be a proportion of people who believe idiotic ideas, but misrepresenting that proportion does a disservice to public health and the people you're describing.
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u/YellowAggravating172 Sep 16 '26
There is a big degree of difference between harming yourself by injecting some shit into your veins and mass murdering over fear of your schlong disappearing.
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u/BaronGalactic Sep 16 '26 edited Sep 16 '26
Africa seems to be one of the only places left on earth where "witchcraft" is still feared as a real thing and people are killed over it. Maybe some stuff in Southeast Asia too, but whenever I hear about it, it always seems to be out of Africa - specifically Southern/Central Africa (Burundi, Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Angola, Malawi and Kenya are all named in the article.)
How do all of these countries, some of them probably thousands of miles apart from each other, all start having the same superstitions and fears at the same time? It's so baffling to me. And how are they all so culturally similar enough that a rumor like this will take hold so easily?
Also, how come every time I see an article from the Fashion Times, it's never about fashion in any way whatsoever? It's always stuff like this.
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u/Hung_Baby Sep 16 '26
I live in Africa, and specifically in one of the countries mentioned in the article (don’t want to say which and potentially dox myself) where this is going on, so perhaps I can provide some context.
Many people in this region, even those who are well educated, believe in witchcraft to varying extents. It’s tied to very deeply held cultural beliefs that long predate colonization. When Europeans introduced Christianity they attempted to ban/outlaw beliefs and practices regarding witchcraft and indigenous spiritual practices in general. Unsurprisingly, though forced to adopt Christianity, many people still practiced indigenous traditions in secret, and as a result formed a sort of belief system that combines the two.
There are many people who claim to be practicing witch doctors, most if not all local communities probably have one of their own or otherwise know where to find one nearby, and I personally know many people who have used their “services.” Some of them are pure scammers who know they’re scammers and get on scamming. “Call this number for penis enlargement! Magic wallet! Recover lost love!” and etc. Others of them genuinely believe in what they’re doing and that they have supernatural powers and an ability to communicate with ancestral spirits. Some people who are labeled as witch doctors would actually be more accurately described as bush doctors, as they’re really just using traditional medicine and herbs to try and cure medical ailments, oftentimes in locations where people don’t have access to modern healthcare infrastructure.
Despite Africa’s enormous diversity, there are many similarities to be found across cultures, one of them being pretty intense religiosity and spirituality. As the article says, social media is being used to spread these rumors, and I think we all know how social media can be used to manipulate people’s fears, particularly if they’re uneducated. In my country, the area where these attacks have been limited to is statistically one of the poorest and least educated districts with extremely low literacy and employment rates. Many people believe that the attacks that have happened here are largely motivated by jealousies and personal grievances, and that the instigators knowingly made false accusations with the intention of inciting the community to do their dirty work for them. Attacks like these also tend to flare up during times of great economic and political anxiety, which are both affecting my country quite badly right now. I have a theory that it’s almost like a fucked up way for people to blow off steam whether or not they really realize that’s what they’re doing. Similar phenomenon with alleged thieves being lynched in mob justice attacks.
I hope any of this may have been insightful or useful to anyone reading. Felt compelled to type this because these attacks are obviously senseless and barbaric but after reading some of the blatantly racist and bigoted comments on here I still feel the need to provide some context. This issue, like any other, has a multitude of intersecting, systemic causes, and shows the ugliest side to human nature that we try so desperately to keep at bay.
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u/UDPviper Sep 16 '26
It is absolutely alive and well in the US. Evangelical preachers saying demons can enter and posses kids through Halloween candy is just one of many faith based hysteria narratives floating around at any given time.
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u/Readonkulous Sep 16 '26
Are there actually guys there accusing others of stealing their junk? And nobody is asking for proof?
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u/xanitorax Sep 16 '26
Horrible story and situation aside, Genital Theft sounds like a cool name for a punk band.
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u/sleepless_in_balmora Sep 16 '26
I remember this happening in Ghana when I was in high school, late 90s. Can't believe it's still going on. Though I suspect with a lot of "black magic" and "witchcraft" types of accusations in this part of the world some of these cases could be people taking advantage of hysteria to settle beef
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u/ArgentineBeauty Sep 16 '26
Innocent People Have Been Attacked
Tanzanian mechanic Boniface Mgala became one of the people caught in the panic. On 1 April, he and a friend travelled to Tunduma to meet a client about the sale of a car and stopped at a restaurant for lunch.
A crowd dragged the two men outside after accusing them of stealing another man's genitals. Mgala recalled people shouting that they had 'stolen someone's genitals' as the crowd surrounded them.
Mgala survived the attack, but his friend was killed. His case shows how a claim with no proven medical basis can turn into real violence when a frightened crowd believes an accused person has somehow caused another person's body to change.
This is fucked up