Issues impacting Women in Mauritanian society include female genital mutilation,[5] child marriage,[6] and polygamy.

[7] The practice of Leblouh (Arabic: البلوح, romanized: lə-blūḥ) is the practice of force-feeding girls from as young as five, through to teenagers, in Mauritania, Western Sahara, and southern Morocco, where obesity is traditionally regarded as being desirable.

[8][9][10] Older women called "fatteners" force the young girls to consume enormous quantities of food and liquid,[11] inflicting pain on them if they do not eat and drink.

A 2007 demographic cluster study found no change in FGM prevalence rate in Mauritania.

[20][21] Leblouh is the practice of force-feeding girls from as young as five, through to teenagers, in Mauritania, Western Sahara, and southern Morocco, where obesity is traditionally regarded as being desirable.

[8][22][10] Especially prevalent in rural areas and having its roots in Tuareg[23] tradition, leblouh is practiced to increase chances of marriage in a society where high body volume used to be a sign of wealth.

The synonym gavage comes from the French term for the force-feeding of geese to produce foie gras.

Slavery has been called "deeply rooted" in the structure of Mauritania, and "closely tied" to the ethnic composition of the country.

[26][27][28] In 2007, "under international pressure", the government passed a law allowing slaveholders to be prosecuted.