Khadijah Tucker
On Tuesday, two young girls, ages two and three were
found dead in a public bathroom stall of South Africa. It is not yet clear if
any rape occurred before the death of these girls but it is likely that it has.
In South Africa it is a belief that having sex with a young virgin child can
cure a person from AIDS. For this reason, many young children find themselves
being victimized to rape as young as six months. Currently South Africa is
named the rape capital of the world where women have a greater chance of being
a victim of rape than being educated by the school systems. Some traditional healers in South Africa are
actually advising their clients to have sexual intercourse with young children
to cure them of their deadly disease. Because of this myth, there are over 144
reported incidents of rape a day in South Africa. This number is already high
but the sad part is only one percent of the rape that occurs is actually
reported.
When I read this article I wonder why anyone would think
that a sexually transmitted disease could be taken away by simply having sex
and why would a virgin be the key to new found purity. I had to double check to
make sure this incident was current and not something reported decades ago. I
then realized that I was not viewing the situation from a sociological
perspective. I remembered that Africa alone does not have the same access to
proper education that other places have. So it is somewhat understandable that
the people in South Africa don’t know that robbing children of their virginity
will not save themselves from AIDS. The fact that children are not valued and a
young girl could be raped before she is sent to school is probably the reason
why such a myth is believed today. If South Africa had more educational
opportunities they would know that there has not been a cure for AIDS and
having sex with a virgin will only spread the disease throughout the country.
10/18/2013
4:50
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