PRI’s ‘The World’ Examines Efforts to Prevent HIV Transmission Through South African Virginity Exams
"The World" -- a production of BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH Boston -- on Tuesday reported on virginity testing of girls and young women in Zulu tribes in South Africa. Zulu women in the country revived the custom in recent years in the belief that it will reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS by encouraging abstinence. The segment includes comments from tribe elders who perform the tests and a girl who underwent the exam. In addition, the segment includes comments from health experts who are concerned that unsanitary conditions surrounding the tests will contribute to the spread of disease, and lawyers who say the practice violates privacy rights (Schmidt, "The World," PRI, 1/3).
The complete segment is available online in Windows Media.