Sexual rites of passage#Sex training tests

A ceremony of ritual purification known in some places as kusasa fumbi (lit. 'brushing off the dust') is performed where girls have sexual intercourse following menarche.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36843769|title=The man hired to have sex with children|author=Ed Butler|date=21 July 2016|work=BBC News|access-date=22 July 2016}} This is seen in some regions of Malawi (mainly Chikwawa, Nsanje, and Salima Districts).{{cite book|last1=Anderson|first1=E-L|title=Gender, HIV and Risk: Navigating structural violence.|work=SpringerLink |publisher=Palgrave MacMillan|date=2015|url=http://www.palgrave.com/br/book/9780230292888}}{{cite journal|last1=Anderson|first1=E-L|title=Infectious Women: Gendered bodies and HIV in Malawi.|journal=International Feminist Journal of Politics|date=2012|volume=14|issue=2|pages=267–287|doi=10.1080/14616742.2012.659850|s2cid=147688326 }}{{cite journal|last1=Munthali|first1=AC|last2=Zulu|first2=EM|title=The timing and role of initiation rites in preparing young people for adolescence and responsible sexual and reproductive behaviour in Malawi.|journal=African Journal of Reproductive Health|date=December 2007|volume=11|issue=3|pages=150–67|pmid=18458746|doi=10.2307/25549737|pmc=2367147|jstor=25549737}} Such sexual cleansing is also practiced in parts of Namibia,{{Cite web |last=|first=|date=2009-06-11 |title=Cultural Practices in Namibia Hinder HIV Prevention, Group Says |url=https://kffhealthnews.org/morning-breakout/dr00041716/|access-date=2024-06-03 |website=KFF Health News|language=en}} Angola, Congo, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

Prepubescent girls (as young as seven years old{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/malawians-take-steps-to-end-sexual-initiation-of-girls/article_5cba0665-0922-52d9-8b00-197dbedf9adb.html|title=Malawians take steps to end sexual initiation of girls |author=Jennifer Yang|date=January 20, 2014|work=Toronto Star|access-date=3 June 2024}} to as old as 17 years old) are sent to a training camp where women known as anamkungwi, 'key leaders', teach them how to cook, clean, and have sexual intercourse in order to be good wives.{{cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/01/confronting-a-sexual-rite-of-passage-in-malawi/283196/|title=Confronting a Sexual Rite of Passage in Malawi|author=Beenish Ahmed|date=January 20, 2014|work=The Atlantic|access-date=22 July 2016}} At the training camp the girls are told that they should sleep with a man in order to get rid of child 'dust' or else their body will become diseased.{{Cite web |last=Park |first=Madison |date=2014-02-04 |title=A rite of passage that pushes girls into sex |url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/02/04/health/malawi-girls-initiation/index.html |access-date=2023-10-17 |website=CNN |language=en}} After the training, a man holding the traditional position of hyena (not to be confused with the animal) performs the three-day cleansing ritual for a sum of money ($4-7 per girl in 2016).{{cite news |date=26 July 2016 |title=Malawian 'hyena man' arrested for having sex with children |newspaper=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36892963 |access-date=15 August 2016}} Sometimes girls are required to perform the chisamba, a bare-breasted dance at the end of her initiation in front of the whole community.{{cite news |url=https://guardian.ng/life/kusasa-fumbi-the-sexual-rite-of-passage/|title=Kusasa Fumbi – The Sexual Rite Of Passage|newspaper=The Guardian|date= 2 February 2020 |access-date= 22 October 2021}}

The practice can place young girls at risk of HIV infection, since the hyena has sexual intercourse with all the girls without wearing condoms, as the ritual requires the exchange of sexual fluids. Traditionalist Malawians claim that the rite prevents disease; hyenas are usually selected for their reputed good moral character and are often erroneously believed to be incapable of being infected with diseases such as HIV/AIDS, though HIV-positive men have been documented to perform the duties of a hyena.{{cite news|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2017/07/26/louis-hyene-depuis-presque-vingt-ans-et-fier-de-l-etre_5165080_3212.html|title=Au Malawi, Louis, une " hyène " payée pour violer|date=26 July 2017|via=Le Monde|newspaper=Le Monde.fr}}

This ceremony may also be performed after an abortion.

Chinamwali is a three-month ritual performed in Eastern Province, Zambia. Female initiators known as alangizi teach sexual practices to girls as young as twelve years old. Afterwards, they are sent to an older man from the community who 'tests' their sexual skills and decide whether they need to go back for more training. The practice is likely underreported, as those who undergo it are sworn to secrecy.{{cite news|url= https://news.trust.org/item/20150428112702-w3suc |title= Zambian sex initiators lead revolution for young women |publisher=Reuters|access-date=19 October 2021|date=28 April 2015}}

File:Samurai kiss.jpg from 1750 (Edo period) depicting a samurai having sexual relations with an adolescent boy.]]

Sexual initiation rites of pre-pubescent boys as young as seven years old are or were practiced in many cultures and usually involves sexual acts with older males. For example, in the New Guinea Highlands, among the Baruya and Etoro, fellatio and the ingestion of semen was performed. The Kaluli practiced anal sex to 'deliver' semen to the boy.{{Citation Needed|reason=Information maybe out of date. The sources although somewhat recent, source other papers that are decently old (most recent in 1993; a reprint of one from 1984) and could be outdated by now.|date=May 2025}} The Etoro reviled these Kaluli practices, finding them disgusting. The practices continued at least up till the early 80s. The Sambia use to, but have abandoned the practice. These rites are often based on the belief that women represent cosmic disorder.{{cite news|url= https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii36/articles/jack-goody-the-labyrinth-of-kinship|title= Zambian sex initiators lead revolution for young women |publisher=NewLeftReview|access-date=19 October 2021|date=2004}}{{cite journal | last=Henrich | first=Joseph | last2=Heine | first2=Steven J. | last3=Norenzayan | first3=Ara | title=The weirdest people in the world? | journal=Behavioral and Brain Sciences | publisher=Cambridge University Press (CUP) | volume=33 | issue=2-3 | year=2010 | issn=0140-525X | doi=10.1017/s0140525x0999152x | doi-access=free | pages=61–83 | url=https://www2.psych.ubc.ca/~henrich/pdfs/WeirdPeople.pdf | access-date=2025-05-18}}{{cite book |last=Herdt |first=Gilbert H. |title=The Sambia: Ritual, Sexuality, and Change in Papua New Guinea |publisher=Wadsworth Cengage Learning |year=2006 |place=Belmont}} Similar rites of ‘boy insemination’ used to be practiced by societies of indigenous Australians, in ancient Greece, and in Japan during the Edo (Tokugawa) period.{{Cite journal|title = The weirdest people in the world?|last = Henrich|first = Joseph|date = 2010|journal = Behavioral and Brain Sciences|volume = 33|issue = 2–3|pages = 61–83|doi = 10.1017/s0140525x0999152x |pmid = 20550733|hdl = 11858/00-001M-0000-0013-26A1-6| s2cid=219338876 | url=https://www2.psych.ubc.ca/~henrich/pdfs/WeirdPeople.pdf |hdl-access = free}}

The sexual cleansing of widows is a tradition that requires widowed women to have sexual intercourse as a form of ritual purification. It is practiced in parts of Angola, Congo, Ivory Coast, Malawi (where it is known as kulowa kufa),{{cite news |date=9 May 2021 |title=Sexual cleansing Practices rage on |publisher=The Nation |url=https://www.mwnation.com/sexual-cleansing-practices-rage-on/ |access-date=24 October 2021}} Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. It has been suggested that the practice might be based on the idea that a man might die as a result of witchcraft performed by his wife.{{cite web |author=Rachel Awuor |date=2007-11-01 |title=Widow cleansing: 'Good' intentions – negative consequences |url=http://www.farmradio.org/radio-resource-packs/package-82/widow-cleansing-good-intentions-negative-consequences/ |access-date=2016-07-23 |publisher=Farm Radio International}}{{cite news |author=Kizito Makoye |date=4 October 2013 |title=Widow sexual cleansing ritual continues in Tanzania |work=news.trust.org |url=http://news.trust.org//item/20131004013124-9hq3g/ |access-date=22 July 2016}}

The three- to seven-day ritual can be performed by the deceased husband's brother or other male relative, or even a sex worker. Typically, after intercourse, the widow burns her clothes and the man who had performed the purification shaves her head. This is often done outside so that the neighborhood can witness that the widow is now cleansed. Finally, a chicken is slaughtered.

The ritual is often forced upon a widow by the family of her deceased husband and the wider community, who may physically harm the uncompliant woman and her children. Widow cleansing was outlawed in Kenya by a 2015 bill against domestic violence.{{cite news |date=23 October 2018 |title=These Kenyan widows are fighting against sexual 'cleansing' |publisher=pri.org |url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2018-10-23/these-kenyan-widows-are-fighting-against-sexual-cleansing |access-date=7 November 2018}}

{{reflist}}

Category:Rites of passage

Category:Superstitions of Africa

Category:Sexuality in Africa