Virgin cleansing myth

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The virgin cleansing myth (also referred to as the virgin cure myth, virgin rape myth, or simply virgin myth) is the belief that having

sexually transmitted diseases.[1]
Helping the idea that Christian women who were virgins, were capable of being powerful enough to fight off transmitted diseases.

Anthropologist Suzanne Leclerc-Madlala says the

infant rape by HIV-positive men in South Africa.[2] In addition to young girls, who are presumed to be virgins because of their age, people who are "blind, deaf, physically impaired, intellectually disabled, or who have mental-health disabilities" are sometimes raped under the erroneous presumption that individuals with disabilities are sexually inactive and therefore virgins.[1]

History

The myth was first reported in 16th-century

martyrs, whose purity served as a form of protection in battling demons.[4]

Prevalence

People all over the world have heard this myth, including in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.[1]

A survey by the University of South Africa (UNISA) in South Africa found that 18 percent of laborers thought that having sex with a virgin cures HIV/AIDS. An earlier study in 1999 by sexual health educators in Gauteng reported that 32 percent of the survey participants believed the myth.[5]

According to Betty Makoni of the Girl Child Network in Zimbabwe, the myth is perpetuated by traditional healers advising HIV-positive men to cure their disease by having sex with virgin girls.[6] In Zimbabwe, some people also believe that the blood produced by raping a virgin will cleanse the infected person's blood of the disease.[6]

In 2002, psychologist Mike Earl-Taylor wrote that the virgin cure myth may explain the staggering rise in child or infant rapes in South Africa, which is facing an HIV/AIDS epidemic.[3] UNICEF has attributed the rape of hundreds of girls to the virgin cleansing myth.[7]

In 2019, more than 40 million people in India, mostly children and women, were trapped as slaves. In South Africa, men take advantage of women with disabilities as they believe they are virgins.[8]

However, it is unknown exactly how common the myth is and to what degree rapes happen because of the belief in it. The claim that the myth drives either HIV infection or child sexual abuse in Africa is disputed by researchers Rachel Jewkes and Helen Epstein,[9] as well as by research on convicted sex offenders in Malawi, where no evidence was found to support the idea that the virgin cleansing myth prompted any rapes.[10]

Importance of education

Ignorance with regards to HIV and AIDS infection serves as a barrier to prevention in numerous African nations.[11]

Education has helped women such as Betty Makoni speak out against the myth and attempt to dissuade people from believing the virgin cleansing myth.[12][13]

According to

health services to shield their status, contributing to further transmission.[15]

In popular culture

The virgin cleansing myth is referenced in the Broadway musical

Elder Cunningham tells Mattumbo that raping babies is against God's will, and invents a passage in the Book of Mormon in which God tells Joseph Smith to instead have sex with a frog to cure his AIDS
.

See also

References

  1. ^
    S2CID 34857351
    .
  2. S2CID 20940212
    . Retrieved 2011-12-29.
  3. ^ a b Earl-Taylor, Mike (2002). "HIV/AIDS, the stats, the virgin cure and infant rape". Science in Africa. Archived from the original on 2012-01-15. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
  4. ISBN 978-1-59691-010-2
    .
  5. ^ "South Africa: Focus on the virgin myth and HIV/AIDS". IRIN. 2002. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
  6. ^ a b Vickers, Steve (2006-10-24). "Staging sex myths to save Zimbabwe's girls". BBC. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
  7. ^ "Child rape survivor saves 'virgin myth' victims". CNN. June 4, 2009. Archived from the original on 2012-01-27. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
  8. ^ Bandyopadhyay (Arko), Sabyasachi (2022-06-01). "What is Virgin cleansing, Myths about HIV cure". Ground Report. Retrieved 2023-10-23.
  9. S2CID 33671635
    . Retrieved 2013-09-21. "In the current South African case, this claim is predicated on racist assumptions about the amorality of African men..."
  10. PMID 21353703
    .
  11. ^ Connor, Steve (1999-09-05). "Focus AIDS: The myth that sex with a virgin can cure HIV". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
  12. ^ Mullins, K.J. (2009). "'Virgin Myth' Behind Zimbabwe Child Rapes". Digital Journal. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
  13. ^ Stein, Sadie (2009). "Silver Linings: One Woman Takes On The 'Virgin Myth.' Many Others Perpetuate It". Jezebel. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
  14. ^ "UNICEF". www.unicef.org. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  15. ^ UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia (2003). Faith-Motivated Actions on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care for Children and Young People in South Asia: A Regional Overview (PDF) (Report). UNICEF. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-10-17. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
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