South African mayor awards scholarships to virgin women

A South African mayor has awarded college scholarships to 16 young women for remaining virgins
to encourage others to be "pure and focus on school," her spokesman said Sunday.

The scholarship was introduced this year and

has been awarded to young women from the
Uthukela district in the eastern KwaZuluNatal province, mayoral spokesman Jabulani
Mkhonza said. Each year the mayor's office
awards scholarships to more than 100
promising high school and university
students from the area, he said.
The young women who applied for the
scholarships voluntarily stayed virgins and
agreed to have regular virginity tests to keep
their funding, Uthukela Mayor Dudu
Mazibuko told South African talk radio station 702.
"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," Mazibuko said.
The grants will be renewed "as long as the child can produce a certificate that she is still a virgin,"
she said. The scholarships focus on young women because they are more vulnerable to exploitation,
teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, she said.
South Africa's department of basic education recorded about 20,000 pregnancies among girls and
young women in schools in 2014, with 223 pregnant girls still in primary school, according to the
South African Broadcasting Corporation. A household survey conducted by Statistics South Africa
found that 5.6 percent of South African females aged 14 to 19 were pregnant in 2013.
"I think the intentions of the mayor are great but what we don't agree with is giving bursaries for
virginity," said chairman for the Commission for Gender Equality Mfanozelwe Shozi. "There is an
issue around discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, virginity and even against boys. This is going
too far."
Virginity testing is not against South Africa's constitution but it is essential that it is done with
consent, said Shozi.
Some activists have called for the banning of virginity testing in South Africa, describing it as sexist
and invasive. Those defending the cultural practice say it preserves tradition and has been
modernized to teach girls about their reproductive health and HIV and AIDS.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/01/24/south-african-mayor-awards-scholarships-to-virgin-wome
n.html