Malawi: HIV positive man is paid to have sex with young girls in the name of ritual

 45-year-old Eric Aniva of Nsanje, Malawi, is having sex with young girls, as part of their tradition for girls to have sex with a male prostitute who is known as a “hyena.” He claims that so far, he has slept with about 104 girls and young women since the beginning of his “career.”

He said that the girls pay to have sex with him once they reach puberty. The girls have sex with the hyena over a three-day period after their first menstruation. The act is not seen by village elders as rape, but rather as a form of ritual “cleansing.”

When asked why he does not wear a condom, Aniva said that it is against their religion to use protection. Dr. May Shaba, who is the secretary of the Ministry of Gender and Welfare, said: “We are not going to condemn these people, but we are going to give them information that they need to change their rituals.”

However, Aniva, who is HIV positive, agreed that the practice has the potential of being the opposite of cleansing, but rather a way of spreading the disease.