SWAZILAND! Traditional Chastity Vow May Have Lowered Teenage HIV Rates

Another example of how abstinence can help lower the risk and spread of HIV although this took place in Africa.

The custom is known as "umcwasho", after the tasselled woollen headgear worn by young women for five years: powder blue and yellow for teenagers from puberty up to 18 years old; red and yellow for women aged 19 to 24.

Keeping the vow helps reduce the risk of HIV, STDs, and pregancy at a young although the vow only last several years. It does, however, provide a sense of empowerment, self-esteem and self-improvement.

Without the protection of the "Umcwasho" custom, in which girls pledge to abstain from sex and devote their efforts to self improvement and learning traditional Swazi ways, young women like Nomthula fret they may have trouble with demanding boyfriends.

But it does come down to a matter of respecting a woman's wishes on keeping her virginity rather than by using the "Umcwasho" custom to help keep rural (and not urban) boys at bay.

Read more. Interesting article.