When superstition kills

The pervision and cruel irony of this problem in Malawi is stunning.

For whatever it’s worth, Malawi is 75% Christian (55%, Protestant; 20%, Catholic), 20% Muslim, and 5% animist & other religions.

“Have Men in Our Land Chosen to Become Worse Than Beasts?” (IPS News Service)

In addition to their concerns about wife battering, activists say they are alarmed at apparent increases in rape, underage sex and molestation perpetrated by men [in Malawi] who believe that intercourse with a child or a virgin can rid them of HIV.

“There is (a) theory applied by the witchdoctors that people who tested HIV-positive could cleanse themselves of the virus if they slept with girl-children,” Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Henry Phoya has noted.