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Virginity testing strips girls of their dignity
Inter Press Service News Agency
February 17, 2004

By Stanley Karombo

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=22451

HARARE - They form a single file. Some are singing, though their voices have been dwarfed by the hum of the stream. The girls, estimated around 50, are being accompanied home by three middle-aged women from a nearby river.

Suddenly the procession is interrupted by irrepressible sobbing. Several teary-eyed, young women have failed their virginity tests. They are dreading the rebukes and curses, likely to follow, once their parents find out about their status.

The girls, who have passed the test, have been offered unblemished leaves, both as a symbol of - and testimony to - the women keeping themselves pure, untouched. The girls are walking home, to their village, where elders and family members are anxiously waiting at the home of Chief Naboth Makoni.

Men eager to marry virgins in this eastern border town, more than 180 kilometres from the capital Harare, must produce documented proof of their HIV-negative status as part of chief Makoni's controversial anti-AIDS campaign. His unorthodox initiative has drawn the ire of women's rights activists and health care workers, to name but a few.

Makoni argues that it is unfair to allow a marriage between a person living with the virus and "a virgin who has tested negative". His plan, which includes voluntary virginity testing of girls, seeks to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS.

"So far 3,500 girls have been tested, on their own insistence, and some have been awarded certificates," Makoni says. "That's why we're demanding proof of a man's HIV-status if he wants to marry any of these angels".

Around 2,500 people die of AIDS-related diseases in Zimbabwe every week, according to official statistics. Zimbabwe, with a population of about 13 million, has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world.

Makoni has also instituted a so-called feast for the virgins. It takes place once a month, and involves the honouring of chaste individuals by awarding them certificates.

No matter how he justifies his methods, Makoni's campaign has set tongues wagging. Some of his critics argue that anyone can forge a document altering their HIV status. Others say virginity tests are no longer regarded in the way they once were, when marriages were confined to people living in the same village.

There is also the fear of isolation and, in worst cases, stigmatisation. Those who "fail" will experience stigmatisation, whether their test result is publicised or not. Stigmatisation lasts for months, if not years, while the loss of virginity takes just a matter of minutes, if not seconds.

Recently the Zimbabwe Women's Rights Centre Network (ZWRCN) invited Makoni to address a gathering and shed light on his methods, including virginity testing. The meeting attracted over 70 traditional healers, several government officials, church representatives and students.

In his presentation in Harare, Makoni highlighted the importance of 'hunhu', a Shona word for accepted African moral standards. Shona people make up 80 percent of Zimbabwe's population.

Makoni said his attempt to curb the spread of HIV /AIDS was prompted by Zimbabwe's unfortunate position as one the countries most affected by the virus.

Makoni District, of which Makoni is the chief, has the highest rate of HIV infection in the country.

Makoni focuses on girls because, he says, girls can be 'controlled'. Once they are controlled, he says, they have "the keys" to prevent pre-marital sex.

But Makoni fails to explain the risks of HIV/AIDS infections when spouses, some of whom were virgins, or tested negative before getting married, start to cheat on each other.

He attributes the majority of failed marriages in his district to the increasing number of women who get married after losing their virginity. "In African culture, a man who deflowers a virgin pays damages to the girl's parents," Makoni explains.

"At the same time, if a man marries a virgin he pays the parents an extra cow, called 'chimanda'. If a young woman is not a virgin she is considered to have less value. This often leads to her being abused by her husband, and sometimes results in divorce."

What makes Makoni's methods controversial is the inclusion of virginity testing. "The idea of testing does not make any sense," said Netsai Mushonga of the Harare-based Women Coalition of Zimbabwe, a non-governmental organisation.

"Virginity testing leaves a man free to roam, without enforcing any similar checks and balance on him, while it strips girls of their dignity," she said.

Mushona urged Makoni to drop the practice.

Another controversial issue discussed at the gathering was the ownership of a woman's body. Who should have the final say: her community, her parents, her husband or the girl herself?

Lessily Cherry, a medical doctor in Harare, says virginity tests are not "fool proof". A girl's hymen can break, due to the nature of its elasticity, in sporting activities, he says. And when the girl visits the traditional virginity tests, the old women, who check the young women, will tell her that she is not a virgin.

Cherry says it is only the girl who can tell whether she is a virgin or not.

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