From South Africa comes reports that a mayor of a South African municipality, Dudu Mazibuko, is giving scholarships to young girls if they can prove they are virgins.
South Africa has long been known to have problems in the area of sexual morality which has led to problems such as high teen pregnancy rates, high H.I.V. infection rates and high female abuse rates. In a bid to tackle this problem, Mazibuko has designed this method to help fight the scourge.
In an interview, she said “To us, it’s just to say thank you for keeping yourself, and you can still keep yourself for the next three years until you get your degree or certificate,”
The woman who apply for this scholarship are to be tested to ascertain purity and are to undertake to remain that way till graduation.
Scholarship grants are hard to come by in South Africa with the prices for institutions spiking and making this initiative even more attractive.
But not everyone is happy with this drive. People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA), a South African rights organization, has expressed concern that such scholarships are discriminatory—against male students and women who have had sex or are pregnant.
“POWA is shocked to hear that young girls are being tested for virginity in order to get bursaries…it’s a violation of their rights,”
The Mayor however, has gotten support by many girls who would like to take part in this initiative and place education first.
You can watch the video below.
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