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“Hyena’ infects girls with HIV in the name of tradition



By Kollage News Correspondent

The people of a small community in Malawi are proud of their tradition. At least, that is what has been practiced by their forefathers over the years.

When the girls in that community becomes of age, they need to go through certain initiation ceremonies that ushers them from puberty into adulthood. As part of the final rites of the initiation, the girls, who are now to become women, must go through a sexual act with a professional called “hyena” by the locals. 

A girl spends the night with the hyena and it is traditionally expected that the girl would have had her first sexual encounter by the next day. This first sexual encounter is not free. The irony is that the girl’s parents pay the hyena for his services.

The community believes that when the matured girl does not go through this initiation rite, her parents would die or something untoward would happen to the parents or members of her family. The fear of this calamity compels parents to force their girl children to go through the rites.

A BBC programme monitored by Kollage News indicates that over the years, this practice has become detrimental to the girls. For one thing, the sexual act is done without the use of protection thus risking the lives of the girls. Indeed it is feared that some of the girls have been sentenced to a life of HIV and AIDS. 

One of the hyenas has confessed to BBC in an interview that he is HIV positive. This hyena, called Eric has a wife and a child. He had found out that he was HIV positive for a while now but still continues to perform the duties of a hyena. According to Eric, because he is now HIV positive, he does not engage in the practice as often as he used to. He also said that he needs the money he gets from his duties. Asked if he had informed the parents that he was HIV positive, Eric answered in the negative.

Some of the girls interviewed, who were as young as twelve at the time of the first sexual encounter at the hand of their “hyenas”, confessed that they were afraid their parents would die if they did not go through the ritual. 

It is true that parents who engaged or continue to engage the services of Eric, risk infecting their daughters with the HIV virus. How does this affect the future of the girls? How does it affect their education and health?  

This community may be sitting on a time bomb.


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Kollage News: “Hyena’ infects girls with HIV in the name of tradition
“Hyena’ infects girls with HIV in the name of tradition
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