Virginity Testing Puts South African Government, Zulu Tribe At Odds

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 30 Sep 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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A debate over the traditional practice of virginity testing is occurring between the South African Zulu tribe and the government, which banned the practice for girls younger than age 16 last year, the Washington Post reports. According to the Post, the issue is complex in South Africa because its constitution "lauds diversity but requires cultural customs to bend to individual rights." The traditional, patriarchal Zulu tribe claims the practice can help curb teen pregnancy and transmission of sexually transmitted infections.

Virginity testing is most common among Zulus, which are the largest ethnic group in South Africa, and differs from female genital cutting -- also called female genital mutilation and female circumcision -- which also was banned last year. The virginity tests, usually performed by elderly women, involve inspecting the genitals of girls for torn hymens. A spokesperson for South Africa's Department of Social Development said that the regulations of the ban still were being debated but that violators could be subject to criminal charges.

South Africa's Commission for Gender Equality, which backed the ban on virginity testing, said the practice is a "public spectacle" that can be harmful to the girls participating. According to the Post, the commission argued that girls who did not "pass" would be shunned or emotionally harmed and those who do pass could face the prospect of being raped in a culture where some believe that intercourse with a virgin can cure HIV/AIDS. Nomboniso Gasa, chair of the commission, said that the "very notion of virginity testing as interpreted is that it's up to the girl to prove her virginity," adding that the practice, "important as it may have been in the past, no longer serves our society."

Some advocates of the practice said the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the country makes the testing important because it serves as a "culturally sanctioned abstinence campaign," the Post reports. Nomagugu Ngobese, a sex educator who said she has trained around 800 virginity testers, said, "Human rights are individual rights, which is not the way for us. We live communally." Some proponents of the practice said the ban passed last year was a sign that the government is being influenced by Western cultural values. Phathekile Holomisa, president of the Congress of Traditional Leaders, said the interpretation of the country's constitution has been "negative toward African cultural practices" (Brulliard, Washington Post, 9/26).

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