African sex ritual is usually part of cultural practice surrounding fertility and sexual reproduction. Going from one length to another of the African continent, many communities or groups practice one form or the other to mark a rite of passage or as a means of cleaning in the case of death. Whatever the case, some of these practices may have similarities across different locations and mean different things.
While some of the rituals may have religious as well as cultural symbolism, many are harmful leading to them being outlawed.
Fascinating African Sex Rituals That Will Blow Your Mind
1. Umhlanga, Virginity Testing
The Umhlanga is a form of virginity testing practiced in South Africa. While it is another variant, there are different communities that had such at different times in History. Per this practice, young girls are tested by a qualified virginity tester to determine their chastity.
While local concerns and international calls frown upon such practices as an abuse of a person’s rights, attempts by the government to abolish them remain futile.
This is not surprising as the Umhlanga is an important part of the yearly reed ceremony– held to encourage Zulu unity while celebrating the nation’s maidens. As a condition for a girl to participate, her virginity must be tested to determine if her hymen is still intact.
Over the years, the reed ceremony also promotes healthy practices to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS. Looking at the two sides to the Umhlanga and the prevention of HIV/AIDS, these are two sides of a coin. Thus, hindering the outlawing of the virginity testing aspect.
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2. Widowhood Ritual, Joter In Tanzania
This sexual ritual is linked to cleansing in the case of the loss of one’s spouse but mostly for a woman. A widow is expected to sleep with her brother-in-law within 40 days of her husband’s death to free her from his spirit. In the case where this is not met, another man known as a joter offers his service for a paid amount.
Unlike widowhood rituals which force a widow to sleep with the husband’s corpse and those who demand she washes the body, in northern Tanzania, the joter is a recognized ritual.
Despite the reason for this ritual, in recent times, there have been many calls to abolish it due to the spread of diseases like HIV/AIDS and the abuse of widows. This abuse comes in the form of seizure of properties when a widow refuses to cooperate or physical violence.
3. Potency Test
The potency test is common among the Banyankole of Uganda. The test is usually performed on a man by a girl’s aunt in order to prove his potency. As part of this sexual ritual, the aunts will take turns with the man as part of the test.
Until the man passes the test, the marriage will not be held. Other conditions might allow the aunts to watch or listen as the couple has s*xual intercourse.
4. Widowhood Rites In Eastern Nigeria
As mentioned earlier, some sexual rituals also serve as a form of cleansing. In some communities in the eastern part of Nigeria, widows go through widowhood rites after the demise of their husbands. Often this is a year-long mourning period after the death of her husband.
There are extreme cases where a widow is forced to drink the water used to wash the corpse or even sleep with the corpse.
Her hair is shaved off within that period to show that she is mourning. Where the death is not considered as due to natural causes, she may be required to swear at a shrine with a kola nut placed on her head and finish the swearing by holding two broomsticks.
5. Kusasa Fumbi, Brushing Off The Dust
The Kusasa Fumbi sex rites is very common among some people of the Chikwawa, Salima, and Nsanje districts of Malawi.
It is a sexual rite of passage in which a girl or woman must have sex after her first menstruation. This rite is sometimes performed by a woman after the loss of her husband, or after an abortion.
As it is erroneously believed after the death of a man, the wife must have killed him. Thus, for a widow to prove her innocence, she performs the ‘kusasa fumbi’ also known as brushing off the dust.
The person to perform this rite can be a ‘hyena’, he is usually a trained professional in these matters. Traditionally, the hyena is a paid male that initiates young girls to perform the Kusasa Fumbi.
6. The Gishiri Cutting
There are different cases of genital cuttings of females across the African continent with variations in name and method.
The Gishiri cutting is a form of female genital mutilation common among the Hausa and Fulani communities of northern Nigeria and southern Niger.
Gishiri means salt in Hausa but, the practice borrows from the similarity between the knife used to cut salt by traders and the one used to make Gishiri cuts.
This sexual rite is believed to treat some health conditions ranging from infertility to labor. These conditions involve a woman’s reproductive system.
However, the belief that Gishiri is scientific is false as the risks are too high and complicate a woman’s reproductive system.
Also, cuts from the knife can cause hemorrhaging and death.
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7. Gerewol Festival Of The Wodaabe’s
This annual festival is among the Wodaabe, a nomadic group on the fringes of the Sahara desert in Niger and northern Nigeria.
It comes before the short rainy season and takes about a week of preparations with men doing their best to present the most beautiful among them to the female judges.
The peak of the Gerewol festival is the selection of the best male.
The most handsome men are favored by the three most beautiful women These women may favor them with sex and wife. Aggrieved wives also use the opportunity to seek new husbands
In most cases, the female judges pick the best man to mate with. While this is an annual festival among the Wodaabe, it highlights the practice of free sexuality among them.
8. Trokosi Ritual Servitude
It is a form of payment using virgin girls among the Ewe of Ghana and Togo. The rite is payment either for a crime done by one or a family member or for a service done to one.
The virgin girls are taken to a shrine to serve the priests or owners of the traditional shrine. Documented facts link ritual sex in the shrine to girls forced to have sex after their first menstruation(menarche).
Those liberated have pointed to giving birth to children for these priests and elders.
While there is a name variation to this practice, it operates similarly. Some people refer to it as trokosi, Fiashidi, and workwe with trokosi being the most popular name.
Even after liberation, former trokosi, slaves of the deity have a ritual over them.
9. Sex Trafficking Juju
The sex trafficking juju ritual is a form of oathtaking that became popular in recent years due to the increase in sex trafficking between Africa and Europe. Figures rate the increase as high as 600% according to the International Organization for Migration. Most of these huge numbers come from Nigeria. While this sounds like an exaggeration, the reality is a challenge.
As it is, this ritual is binding on girls who want to seek a better life in countries of Europe especially Italy. In most instances, the girls are trafficked for prostitution and in order to secure their cooperation, they are forced to swear oaths using rituals that are binding.
This involves oath-taking ceremonies with blood, hair, and clothing used to bind it.
Failure to comply with the conditions of sex and payment of proceeds to the traffickers by the victims has negative consequences.
Sources say the sex juju put in their bodies is very potent and can lead to mental health problems.
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