HIV-infected man’s job is to devirginise girls in Malawi who had period for the first time

While a Queensland researcher has found a functional cure for HIV, in Malawi an HIV-infected man has the job of devirginising girls who had just their first menstruation. The man, called a “hyena” is being paid US$4 to US$10 (A$5.35 to A$13.3) as part of the Nsanje District’s role to “sexually cleanse” young girls.

However, BBC points out the ritual cleansing has the potential instead to spread the disease. The "hyena" is Eric Aniva, one of 10 hyenas in the district. Each village in the district has one such male who have sexual intercourse with 12-year-old girls over a three-day period when the teens have their first menstruation.

The sex marks their transition from childhood to womanhood. After experiencing sex in the hands of a hyena, the girls are wed through arranged marriages. If a girl refuses to have sex with the hyena, the belief is that it would bring ailment to the girl’s families or village.

Since he started doing that job, Aniva – who is in his 40s and has two wives – reckons he must have devirgnised over 100 females in his village, reports Yahoo News. While he prefers older girls, “All the girls find pleasure in me as their hyena … They actually are proud and tell other people that this man is a real man, he knows how to please a woman,” Aniva claims.

But some of the women say they only agree to have sex with a hyena because it is a Malawi tradition, and they fear not following the rite would cause havoc on their families and villages. The custodians insists because women believe the hyena was chosen for his good moral character, they would not be infected with HIV or AIDS.

Aniva does not tell the women he has the virus. Fanny, one of his wives, disagrees with her husband’s job but has to accept the harsh reality that their country is poor and Aniva having sex with virgins brings food to their table.