We’re going to put on our serious face here because there isn’t going to be much to laugh about from this point on. Now that you’ve been warned let’s proceed.

Owners of shebeens have apparently been selling their teenage daughters for sex to regular customers. Yes, you read right. Our Deputy Minister of Social Development Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu dropped this bombshell at the launch of a new report yesterday which analysed links between gender violence and HIV. This from TimesLive:

Bogopane-Zulu said she had been made aware of isolated cases where women were forcing their daughters into sex with regular shebeen customers. This was the enabling of rape, she said.

The deputy minister said through it was “not widespread”, it was considered a “growing problem”.

But wait, there’s more. The men often refuse to use condoms during these encounters, which of course puts all the parties involved at a far greater risk of contracting HIV.

There are contrasting reports over the frequency of these incidents, however, as NGO Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation spokesman Thuli Ntshingila said that during their six years of research into shebeens across three provinces they had to encounter such a case. They did, however, encounter many examples of abuse of young girls and rape.

The mind boggles really. I know desperate times call for desperate measures but to sell one’s own daughter for sex is something that beggars belief.

[source:timeslive, feature image: portfoliocollection]