Momome

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{{Africa-culture-stub}}{{Short description|Female cleansing ritual in Ghana and Ivory Coast}}

Momome is a female cleansing ritual among some Akan groups in present-day Ghana and Ivory Coast. The ritual is aimed at cleansing the community from impending crisis.{{Cite journal |last=Boni |first=Stefano |date=2008 |title=Female Cleansing of the Community. The Momome Ritual of the Akan World |url=https://www.cairn.info/revue-cahiers-d-etudes-africaines-2008-4-page-765.htm |journal=Cahiers d'études africaines |language=fr |volume=192 |issue=4 |pages=765–790 |doi=10.4000/etudesafricaines.15502 |issn=0008-0055|hdl=11380/608559 |hdl-access=free }} The momome ritual in the precolonial setting was held in response to wars, but in the 20th century it has been increasingly evoked in moments of crisis (illness, deposition, death) of prominent figures of the chiefly establishment.{{Cite book |last=Grillo |first=Laura |url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/2540/chapter/1291558/Genies-Witches-and-WomenLocating-Female-Powers |title=An Intimate Rebuke: Female Genital Power in Ritual and Politics in West Africa |date=2018-10-19 |journal= |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-1-4780-0263-5 |chapter=Genies, Witches, and Women: Locating Female Powers |doi=10.1215/9781478002635-003}}