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

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studs. The appellant in this case argued that the wearing of a nose stud was an
established tradition in her family as well as Indian culture and that her daughter
did not wear a nose stud as a fashion statement. 193 In its finding that the
decision of the governing body unreasonably and unjustifiably infringed the right
of the appellant’s daughter to culture and religion, the court made the following
submission;
“A ban against the wearing of a nose stud undermines the value of religious and cultural
symbols and sends learners the message that religious beliefs and cultural practices do
not merit the same protection as other rights and freedoms. If the school
accommodates appellant’s daughter and allows her to wear the nose stud it would
demonstrate the importance that our society attaches to protecting religious and cultural
rights or freedoms and to showing respect for its minorities.” 194
The minority decision in the Prince case above as well as the decision of the
court in Pillay discussed above are two examples of the commitment to protect
the rights of vulnerable groups in society. In the Christian Education case the
court emphasized the cultural context where children as vulnerable groups in
society rely on the state to put in place measures aimed at preventing abuse,
violence and maltreatment of children. As such, the Constitutional Court has
provided guidance to other courts that where culture and religion have the
potential to harm the rights of children, the rights of children to be protected
should prevail.
In my opinion the potential harmful consequences of virginity testing which has
been discussed in great detail in chapter 1 of this paper far outweigh the benefits
as proposed by those in favour of the practice. The practice has the potential to
infringe a number of fundamental rights of girl children including the right to
non-discrimination, physical integrity, dignity and privacy. As such, it is
193 para 7.
194 para 35.