Rob W 0 Posted August 19, 2005 Share Posted August 19, 2005 Swazi king drops sex-ban tassels The ban was very unpopular with young Swazis Swaziland's King Mswati III has ended a five-year sex ban he imposed on the kingdom's teenage girls a year early. The girls have had to wear large woollen tassels as a sign of their chastity since 2001. These are to be burnt in a huge ceremony on Tuesday. The sex ban was imposed to fight the spread of HIV/Aids. Swaziland has one of the world's highest HIV infection rates, at almost 40% of the population. The king fined himself a cow for breaking the ban by marrying again. He took a 17-year-old girl as his ninth wife just two months after imposing the sex-ban in September 2001, sparking unprecedented protests by Swazi women outside the royal palace. Ban enforced No official reason has been given about why the sex ban was ended a year early. The BBC's Thulani Mthethwa in Swaziland says the ban was very unpopular with young Swazis. King Mswati III King Mswati has been criticised for his lavish lifestyle He says that few girls in urban areas wore the tassels, known as "umchwasho". Many were unhappy that King Mswati's daughters were rarely seen wearing the tassels. But our correspondent says that in rural areas, the tassels were common because the ban was enforced by local chiefs and some schools insisted that girls wore them to get a place. "I have it in command from his majesty to order all the national flowers [virgins] to converge on Ludzidzini [royal palace] on Sunday so that they can drop the woollen tassels on Monday," said a spokeswoman for Swaziland's girls, Nkhonto Dlamini, in a broadcast on national radio. King Mswati now has 11 wives and two more fiancees. His late father, King Sobhuza II, who led the country to independence in 1968, had more than 70 wives when he died in 1982. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitty-sniper 0 Posted August 19, 2005 Share Posted August 19, 2005 isn't that the place where you can't cover you're eyes from the sun or point at the kings hut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob W 0 Posted August 19, 2005 Author Share Posted August 19, 2005 isn't that the place where you can't cover you're eyes from the sun or point at the kings hut. 15072[/snapback] No thats Corbridge................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus 0 Posted August 19, 2005 Share Posted August 19, 2005 40% of the population is hiv positive - jesus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob W 0 Posted August 19, 2005 Author Share Posted August 19, 2005 Yeah - Ive never fancied Corbridge lasses myself.................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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