An African man has been isolated for 55 years because being close to women terrifies him. The reason why he is afraid of women has been a mystery for years.
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Callitxe Nzamwita,71, said he was only 16 when his fear of women overwhelmed him, and he couldn’t be around them. According to Oddity Central, Nzamwita decided to build a wooden 15-foot fence around his house and has yet to step out of his home since. However, the women in the community have sent him food and clothes on his property. He never opens the door to greet them but uses the items they have provided over the years.
One neighbor said the women give him things by tossing them over the fence, and he’ll keep his distance when retrieving the items. “I don’t want women around me because they terrify me. I lock myself in here and have a fence around my house to ensure women will not come closer to me,” Nzamwita explained to the outlet Afrimax.
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Although he has not been diagnosed, the older man could be dealing with gynophobia, a fear of women. The common misconception of gynophobia is that it is a form of misogyny. In an article by PsychCentral, it is similar to any phobia where an individual can experience intense fear or anxiety along with a need to escape. Avoidance is another symptom that Nzamwita is experiencing by isolating himself in his home.
“Living with a phobia can impact your daily life. You might not go places, see people, or participate in activities because of fear and anxiety. With gynophobia, for example, you could go a day without eating to avoid grocery shopping around women,” as reported by PsychCentral.
Gynophobia is not considered a mental illness, but phobias are often associated with distress in critical areas of an individual’s life. These include psychological, biological, and developmental. It is also essential to consider that a traumatic event does not always cause phobias.
The opposite of gynophobia is androphobia, which is the fear of men.
Nzamwita’s story was recorded in a segment in August but went viral recently as the video gained popularity on social media.
