Jun
10
Betty Makoni: Powerful Woman
Filed Under Powerful Women | By Melissa Heald
Via Jezebel, I learned of Betty Makoni, founder of the Girl Child Network (GCN), which started in Zimbabwe and has now expanded to Swaziland, Malawi and South Africa.
Makoni founded the GCN as a support group for women and girls who were raped as a result of “the virgin myth.”
The virgin myth – a widely-held superstition that sex with a virgin will cure a man of HIV or AIDS (and, pre-AIDS, a range of mortal illnesses; this isn’t a new idea)- has led to a rash of child rapes in sub-Saharan Africa (most notably in South Africa) and the ensuing pregnancies and AIDS infections are a little-addressed source of shame for the victims.
The GCN now has three “empowerment villages,” which provide asylum, medical care and counseling to girls who are victims of violence. To date, the GCN has aided about 35,000 girls.
Betty Makoni continues to do this work despite the danger it puts her in personally. Last year, she was forced to move to the UK because she was receiving death threats. She is an inspiration to me for risking her own safety in order to offer support to girls who are victimized because of this pervasive myth. Check out the Jezebel article for links to more stories about Makoni, the GCN and “the virgin myth.”
