We wish to question the assertion of Laura Murray and Gilbert Burnham (June 6, p 1924)
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that “The widely held African belief that an infected male can be ‘cleansed’ of HIV through sexual intercourse with a virgin puts younger girls at particular risk in communities with a high prevalence of HIV.”
Murray and Burnham provide no reference for this statement, probably because there is no evidence to support it. We do not claim knowledge of the entire African continent, but our research in South Africa and Namibia shows that, although the idea of a virgin sex cure is familiar in some African communities, evidence from service providers working with cases of child sexual abuse and from ethnographic and epidemiological studies of child rapists and their victims suggests that it is very rarely a motivating factor in these cases.
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Claims that virgin rape myths drive child sex abuse have surfaced from time to time in the context of social inequality and racial tension, even in Western countries.
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In the current South African case, this claim is predicated on racist assumptions about the amorality of African men and is highly stigmatising towards people with HIV. It is also a diversion from the real causes of child rape which, in southern Africa at least, have much to do with the challenges posed by deepening poverty and inequality to existing gender-based and age-based social hierarchies.
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We declare that we have no conflicts of interest.
References
- 1.
Understanding childhood sexual abuse in Africa.Lancet. 2009; 373: 1924-1926
- 2.
The virgin cleansing myth: cases of child rape are not exotic.Lancet. 2002; 359: 711
- 3.
“If they rape me, I can't blame them”: reflections on the social context of child sexual abuse in South Africa and Namibia.Soc Sci Med. 2005; 61: 1809-1820
- 4.
Child sexual abuse and HIV infection.in: Richter L Dawes A Higson-Smith C The Sexual Abuse of Young Children in Southern Africa. HSRC, Cape Town2004: 130-142
- 5.
The scandal of manhood: “Baby rape” and the politicization of sexual violence in post-apartheid South Africa.Culture Health Sexuality. 2005; 7: 239-252
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Published: 24 October 2009
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© 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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- The myth of the virgin rape myth – Authors' reply
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As Helen Epstein and Rachel Jewkes point out, a wide range of factors affect and contribute to the global tragedy of sexual violence among young people. Among these are certainly poverty, gender inequality, vulnerability factors, mental health problems, substance abuse, legal systems, and sometimes the societal tolerance of sexual violence.1
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