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Myth on virgins cure HIV and AIDS: Action with traditional healers
Girl Child Network (GCN)
September 15, 2006

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The first step towards creating a culture of prevention
Girl Child Network receives an average of 8 rape cases per day and an estimated 6 000 girls report rape in Zimbabwe annually. The youngest rape survivor in Zimbabwe is a day old baby from Chitungwiza after two others aged 3 days and two weeks.

Traditional healers (bogus in most cases) have been implicated in prescription of virgins as possible cure of HIV and AIDS resulting in rape of girls even by their own fathers. Girls aged 0-12 years have become victim to the myth that virgins cure HIV and AIDS and GCN has tackled some of the worst cases of minors raped whilst in the custody of their own fathers. The other myth is that breasts and girls’ genital organs can be used for lucky charms to attract customers in a shop.

GCN fears that if a massive report on rape is conducted across the country in one year only reported rape cases could be well over 40 000. In most instances orphaned young girls where the mother is deceased are the most vulnerable.

In 2004, 6 little girls aged 7 years and below were raped by one Mudhauri in Penhalonga, Mutare who allegedly got advice from a traditional healer that if he was to get blood from virgin girls then he would be the richest man in Manicaland. The man went on to rape 6 girls and he was sentenced to 17 years in jail and he may be out of prison shortly. In July 2006, our Chitsotso Girls Empowerment Village in Rusape received 48 cases of rape of minors and out of these, 20 girls suffered rape at the hands of their fathers because their fathers who were HIV positive believed their daughters being virgins could cure HIV and AIDS in them as per prescriptions they allegedly got from traditional healers. Hardly a week passes in Zimbabwe without a man confessing that he had no choice but to rape his own daughter or sister in order to be cured of HIV and AIDS. The belief that blood from virgins purifies HIV positive men is rampant just as the belief that pledging of young girls to avenging spirits can stop death and bad omen in families.

In Gokwe one such traditional healer cut the skin of a girl around the abdomen and breast to suck out blood. The girl who escaped from Gokwe in 2005 alleges that many girls fell prey to this bogus traditional healer. In Hwange, a father raped his daughter since she was in grade 4 up until she was in form 4. At times he forced her to give him her menstrual blood at knife point. He died of HIV and AIDS before his case was concluded at the courts.

Girls are killed for ritual purposes where their breasts and vaginal parts are targeted for muti. One such case which made big headlines in 2004 was a case of 21 year old Patricia Jeremiah who was brutally murdered by Gurundoro the famous Chitungwiza based traditional healer consulted for mostly business prosperity. On the fateful day when Patricia was murdered her breasts and other genital organs were cut off. One six year old Norton girl fell victim to ritual murder on her way from school. Since the brutal murder of this girl no girl has ever trusted the route to and from school.

Girl Child Network has handled many cases of child sexual abuse where the perpetrators confess that a traditional healer prescribed a virgin as cure of HIV and AIDS. The myth is now so deep rooted among men that the home, school and community have become unsafe places for girls. Thousands of girls are being raped in remote parts of the country. Unless and until everyone comes aboard to raise level of awareness and break silence on the myth that virgins cure HIV and AIDS then the whole future generation of women will be swept away.

Traditional healers and leaders remain central to our campaign against child sexual abuse. Harmful cultural practices, beliefs and attitudes fuel the spread of HIV and AIDS among girls and women. A national sensitization workshop on myth that virgins cure HIV and AIDS will bring together 30 traditional healers, 5 religious leaders, government officials, GCN, traditional leaders, girl child rape survivors from Manicaland and countrywide to break silence on the myth and come up with more effective preventative strategies to combat child sexual abuse in the era of HIV and AIDS. Recent media reports confirm that Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association (ZINATHA) launched a massive campaign to name and shame bogus traditional healers. It is also a welcome move that the government on 1 July 2006 outlawed pledging of females to avenging spirits and other harmful cultural practices through the Criminal Law (Codification) Act. The Domestic Violence Bill which is soon to become law protects girls from child sexual abuse and when such a Bill is enacted into Law many girls will be protected from rape in the homes.

The workshop will among other things:

• Demonstrate the gravity of child sexual abuse cases in Zimbabwe and highlight stories of girls raped by their own fathers and relatives because of the myth that virgins cure HIV and AIDS
• Name and shame some bogus traditional healers abusing young girls by prescribing them as possible cure of HIV and AIDS
• Allow Traditional healers to explore the myth and trace its origins
• Discuss harmful cultural practices that fuel the spread of HIV and AIDS
• Highlight some laws that protect the rights of the girl child
• Official statement from the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development
• Allow the governor of Manicaland Honorable Tineyi Chigudu to give government’s position on the myth that virgins cure HIV and AIDS since Manicaland is the hardest hit province
• Tour of the Girls Empowerment Village and to listen to girls’ stories on myths that virgins cure HIV and AIDS
• Traditional healers to make a formal statement on the myth and invite other traditional healers across the country to take a more active role in curbing further prescription of girls as possible cure of HIV and AIDS
• GCN lobbies government on enactment of proposed Child Sexual Offenses Bill that seeks to ban early marriages and other harmful cultural practices that fuel HIV transmission among girls

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