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Outlook: My Fight Against "Hyena" Sex Ritual

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Natasha Annie Tonthola

25/10/2016 GMT

My Fight Against "Hyena" Sex Ritual

BBC World Service - Outlook, My Fight Against "Hyena" Sex Ritual

Natasha Annie Tonthola is fighting against an initiation ritual she underwent in Malawi

Natasha Annie Tonthola is fighting against the initiation ritual she went through in Malawi

In parts of Malawi, girls who have reached puberty traditionally go through an initiation ceremony which can include something known as the hyena ritual. The hyena is an older man who's brought in to have sex with the girls. The BBC ran an expose of the practice recently and interviewed a so-called "hyena" who said he was HIV positive. After the programme was broadcast the Malawian president issued a statement through his spokesman, calling it a malpractice and saying that "harmful cultural and traditional practices cannot be accepted in this country". A number of Malawian women contacted the BBC to say this had happened to them. One of them is fashion designer Natasha Annie Tonthola. She told us that she'd decided to turn a bad experience into something good and has just won international recognition for a rather brilliant invention.

In the 1930s in Trinidad and Tobago, musicians started playing around with cut-down oil drums and out of it came the steelpan drum or "pan". The instrument is now such a big part of the culture that the steelpan band is a key part of Trinidad carnival with a competition every year, Panorama, for the best performance. Trinidadian Ray Holman's arrangements have won several times. Outlook's Nicki Paxman went to meet him at his home in the capital, Port of Spain.


(Picture: Natasha Annie Tonthola in Lilongwe. Credit: Eldson Chagara.)

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