Harmful traditional practices, (male circumcision - Electronic Thesis ...

23
exposes young boys to an array of physical injuries including starvation,
frostbite, physical injury, meningitis, gangrene and in extreme cases death.
The fact that virginity testers 58 and those performing male circumcision in
customary practice 59 are inadequately trained, puts boys and girls at further risk
of harm. The use of blunt knives in the case of circumcisions 60 and the failure to
wear protective gloves (see 1.2.1 above) when doing virginity inspections
increases the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. Since the virus is transmitted
through bodily fluids, the use of the same gloves in the case of virginity testing
and the same knife, in the case of circumcisions, may facilitate the transmission
of the virus from one child to another if one of the participants are infected with
the virus.
A number of human rights groups in South Africa, including the Commission on
Gender Equality (CGE) as well as the South African Human Rights Commission
(SAHRC), amongst others have called for a total ban on virginity testing (see
1.2.3 above.) The CGE and SAHRC are particularly concerned about the
potential for human rights violations of traditional cultural practices.
The above facts reveal the potential risk of harm that children face with the use
of unhygienic procedures, unqualified traditional surgeons and the hardships that
initiates are subjected to. The facts stated above show that children are exposed
to both physical pain or death, as well as psychological harm. 61
58 Author unknown, “Commission for Gender Equality Report” - Consultative Conference on
Virginity Testing, Richard’s Bay, June 2000, at 20.
59 Horner B, “End of Boyhood – at 65 years old”, Sunday Times, 30 July 2006, at 29.
60 Feni L, “Circumcision rite: 6 die, 50 rescued in first week”, at p1. Available online at
http://www.dispatch.co.za/2006/06/26Easterncape/circ.html. Accessed on 8 April 2006.
61 Menage J, “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder After Genital Medical Procedures,” in Male and
Female Circumcision, Medical, Legal and Ethical Considerations in Paediatric Practice, edited by
Denniston G, Mansfield Hodges F and Milos MF, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 1999 at
215.