Maidens march through the streets of Pietermaritzburg against the UN intentions to ban virginity testing. Video: DOCTOR NGCOBO AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY (ANA) -
In the memorandum addressed to President Cyril Ramaphosa, maidens said they refuse to adhere to the standard of white femininity and white mode of what is “culturally appropriate” for black people, especially for indigenous women.
They asked eight questions, which they demanded response response within 10 days. Among the questions was:
2. Why are African norms and values oppressed in the country?
The UN Human Rights, UN Women and WHO had stated that they were committed to ending virginity testing and ensuring that the rights of all women and girls were upheld. They said women and girls were subjected, and often forced, to undergo virginity testing. “These include requests from parents or potential partners to establish marriage eligibility or from employers for employment eligibility,” said the statement. The organisations called on governments to enforce laws that ban virginity testing.
Ngobese referred to the intentions as a dictatorship. “Dictatorship is our daily experience from the status quo. From now on we will not allow anyone to come and interfere with how we bring up our children, nor will any ritual be interfered with by prejudice biases," she said.
Many commentators have taken to social media since the call to say virginity testing was violent against women.
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