[b] SCHOLARSHIP FOR VIRGINS: 16 GIRLS
AWARDED SCHOLARSHIPS AFTER PASSING
VIRGINITY TEST
A mayor in South Africa awarded
scholarships to 16 girls because they
are virgins, according to the
Associated Press, which said the
young
women have voluntarily abstained
from sex and have agreed to undergo
regular virginity tests to keep their
scholarships.
Uthukela Mayor Dudu Mazibuko said
the funding will be renewed "as long
as the child can produce a
certificate" saying she's still a virgin.
"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 reason this community — located
in the eastern South African
province of KwaZulu-Natal —
introduced the scholarships is
because
young women are more vulnerable to
exploitation, teenage pregnancy,
and sexually transmitted disease,
according to Mazibuko. Teen
pregnancy is a major issue in South
African, where 22,286 girls
between the ages of 10 and 19
became pregnant in 2013, according
to
research from a professor at North-
West University in South Africa. A
survey by Statistics South African
found that 5.6 percent of South
Africans girls between the ages of 14
to 19 were pregnant in 2013, the
Associated Press reported.
At least one group in South African is
taking issue with the virgin
scholarships. Mfanozelwe Shozi,
chairman of the Commission for
Gender
Equality, said the mayor's intentions
are good but the scholarship is
ultimately discriminatory. "There is
an issue around discrimination on
the basis of pregnancy, virginity and
even against boys," he told the
AP. "This is going too far."[/b]
