South Africa to outlaw virginity testing for girls

[sugarimp]

By Shashank Bengali, Knight Ridder Newspapers

PIETERMARITZBURG, South Africa - Wearing tight braids, dark sunglasses and a trendy white tracksuit, Nokuthula Shezi looks like your typical, appearance-conscious 17-year-old.But she's careful not to attract the wrong kind of attention. She's a virgin, and so determined to remain one that every month

Comments

[dodging_fate]

good point about it all being put on the girl... the spread of AIDS isn't going to lessen even if most brides are virgins if the husbands come seasoned with AIDS.

[theradkiddish]

yeah, i agree. meanwhile there should be programs for the boys, it's just not very effective any other way.

[dodging_fate]

true. Unfortunately there's no way to tell if a boy is a virgin (though there's really no way to tell that of a girl, either, for that matter...)

... and it's about time female 'circomcision' is made illegal.

[theradkiddish]

it's good to hear atleast something culturally relevent is being done over there. i really hope they dont imprison Ngobese.

[rocza]

Torn on this one - it sounds like it's providing a culturally positive experience for girls who're seeing Ngobese, at least, as well as functioning as a quick way of referring abused or infected girls to a doctor for medical help, if necessary.

Too bad they can't figure out a way to loop this in for boys, too.

[caatinga]

This is really interesting. What kind of calculus is used in transferring the virginal status to the external society? Especially if the white dot is a null symbol, and the "testers" maintain their client's privacy. Is there a certificate

[nightshine]

There have been a few cases where