REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN SOUTH AFRICA
5.3 CULTURAL PRACTICES THAT INFRINGE ON THE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN SOUTH AFRICA
5.3.7 Virginity Testing
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their new home. However, current trends relating to lobola have made it an obstacle to marriage.
Some scholars have disputed that lobola amounts to a bride price.128In traditional black South African society, lobola was paid in cattle that symbolised reproduction. Furthermore, the payment of cattle created a bond between the two families. This is evident in the fact that lobola was paid in instalments – with the first installment expected to be paid before the marriage and the rest after the birth of a child.129It is believed that this would create a relationship between the two families which transcends the death of either partner to the marriage.
Payment of lobola also helps to stabilise the marriage, as the husband may lose his lobola if he ill-treats his wife. In the same vein, the bride considers the payment of lobola by her husband as a sign of commitment and love. It proves her worth, and gives her a sense of pride – both within her immediate family and the community at large. The status of the bride‟s father in the community determines the number of cattle to be paid by the prospective groom. The bride‟s personal virtue (her virginity) and her educational status also determine the amount to be paid.130 However, in contemporary South Africa, lobola has been commercialised. Cattle have been replaced with money and gifts.131 Cattle have acquired a new value that is measurable in cash and imported goods. Furthermore, due to its economic value, there is a constant increase of lobola.132It is now regarded as a form of compensation to the bride‟s family, for what they spent on their daughter before marriage. This may suggest that the parents are selling their daughter – thereby violating her reproductive health rights.133The woman‟s right to dignity may also be violated, as the husband may consider the wife to be a commodity that he purchased, and which must yield interest through procreation. In this type of situation, it may be difficult for the woman to exercise reproductive autonomy.
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ceremony in South Africa that celebrates virginity. This is common in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape; it takes the form of a reed dance. Participants must be certified virgins.134 Their genitalia are examined to determine if they are chaste. This exercise is carried out by older women who are referred to as abahloli.135The examination is based on the erroneous belief that a woman‟s hymen can only be torn as a result of sexual intercourse. The ceremony reflects the age-old Zulu cultural tradition that does not condone premarital sexual affairs. It is believed that it would restrain young girls from engaging in sexual intercourse, and prevent the spread of various sexually transmitted diseases – including HIV and teenage pregnancies.136
Virginity testing among the Zulu and Xhosa people of South Africa dates back to the Nineteenth Century. It was usually done on the request of the local chief, at his homestead, by an elderly local woman usually appointed by him. Mothers and grandmothers also conduct this test on their daughters, to ensure that they are chaste. The test is significant because a woman that is a virgin commands a higher bride wealth. While virginity testing was abandoned by many in modern times, it has regained popularity due to the scourge of HIV/AIDS. Youth are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS: virginity testing enables parents to exercise some form of control over their children and to prevent pre-marital sexual affairs.137When people confront new challenges, they tend to look to the past for solutions. Leclerc-Madlala notes that “At such times, old traditions and customary practices take on new meanings and are conferred with high prestige value through their association with an idealized past and a well-defined moral order.”138
Among the Zulu people, the celebration of virginity forms part of a three-day ritual appeasement to nomkhubulwana – a Zulu goddess that epitomises “female principle, immortal virgin, mother and protector of all Zulu girls and source of growth and creation”. The activities include the celebratory sowing of seed in a designated garden for the deity. This must be done by a virgin.
Consequently, young girls are tested to ensure that the task is performed by the right person.
134 Vincent“Virginity testing in South Africa: Re-traditioning the postcolony” (2006)January-FebruaryCulture, Health and Sexuality17.
135 Scorgie “Virginity testing and the politics of sexual responsibility: Implications for AIDS Intervention (2002) 61(1) African Studies55.
136 Maluleke, note 123(above).
137 Scorgie, note 135(above) 61, 62.
138 S. Leclerc-Madlala“Protecting girlhood? Virginity revivals in the era of AIDS” (2003)56 Agenda: Empowering women for gender equity16.
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Aside from ceremonial purposes, virginity tests may be conducted on girls when they gather at the home of an umhololi. Some communities also conduct monthly testing at their community halls and sports grounds.139
However, the tests are conducted by non-medical personnel, in an unhygienic manner. The young women are lined up, and the women conducting the test spread a mat on the grass – on which the young women lie on their backs. They part their legs and are examined by the umhololi. In some cases, the umhololi may use her hand to part the labia, to confirm virginity.
This is done to establish whether the hymen is still intact (covered by a piece of flesh); this piece of flesh is called umhulumbi in Zulu. When a young lady passes the test, she is cheered and congratulated by the observers of the event. In some cases, confirmed virgins are given a certificate and a sticker – or a smear of white clay on their forehead as visible evidence that they passed the test. Apart from certificates, the names of the young women and the result, as well as the date of the test, are recorded. Photographs and video recordings of those who passed the test are taken for safe keeping. Those who do not pass the test are required to wait for the umhololi for counseling. The purpose of the counseling for a young lady that failed the virginity testing, is to determine how she was deflowered; whether it was consensual or not and to advise her to abstain from pre-marital sex.140
To ensure that young women remain virgins, they are organised into groups of izintombi (virgins) and are engaged in activities that keep them busy. They regularly meet either to practice dance steps, engage in bead making, orbe educated on how to abstain from pre-marital sex. This motivates some girls to submit to the virginity test, as many aspire to become members of these groups.141Although the purpose of this cultural practice is to ensure that young women abstain from pre-marital sex, it has been distorted in some ways, and may not achieve the intended purpose. There have been cases where young women who passed the test were found to be pregnant a few months later. This calls into question the effectiveness and accuracy of the test.142 It has also been alleged that money changes hands for the awarding of
139 Scorgie, note 135(above) 57.
140Idem 58.
141 Idem 57
142 Scorgie, note 135(above) 70.
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certificates.143Furthermore, since the women that conduct the test are not trained medical personnel, their judgment may not be accurate. Young women that are not virgins have also found ways to make the testers believe that their hymens are still intact. These methods include inserting toothpaste or a piece of white lace dipped in tomato sauce, into their vaginas.144
Virginity testing violates women‟s fundamental human rights. Asking a woman to lie down on the grass to examine her genitalia in public infringes her right to privacy and bodily integrity.
Furthermore, public declaration of a woman‟s sexual status violates her right to privacy.
According to Mubangizi, the right to privacy and bodily integrity are closely connected to the right to dignity. Thus, a breach of the right to privacy and bodily integrity is a breach of the right to dignity.145Not only is virginity testing demeaning, but those that do not pass the examination are embarrassed by the outcome, and this will negatively affect their self-esteem.
Virginity testing can also inhibit the health of the participants. The procedures used and the fact that the testers are not trained medical personnel, can affect the health of both the tested and the testers. This is because they could contact some diseases through the process. Furthermore, some young women insert foreign items into their vaginas to create the impression that they are still intact. It goes without saying that they could contract infections, including HIV/AIDS, which, if not properly treated – can adversely affect their reproductive organs and may lead to death.
Virginity testing could thus constitute an infringement of the right to life.
Virginity testing is a form of indirect discrimination due to its inherent gender bias. The onus of sexual chastity is placed only on the woman. Meanwhile, men are at liberty to deflower some women before marrying a virgin. Virginity testing also violates women‟s right of autonomy to deal with their body. Some women subject themselves to the test due to coercion/undue influence on the part of parents and friends– who usually are some of the observers of the event.
143 Leclerc-Madlala, note 138(above) 19.
144 Idem21.
145 Mubangizi, note 59(above).
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5.4 LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE REPRODUCTIVE