Ukuhlolwa Kwezintombi Practice in Crisis: Same-Sex Sexualities in Traditional Spaces

The practice of virginity testing in various African societies, particularly among the Zulu nation, is perceived as a means to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and early pregnancies. It promotes abstinence among girls and involves assessing the integrity of the hymen. However, findings of this paper reveal that some girls engage in same-sex sexual activity during testing camps, which violates the purpose of this tradition. This paper highlights a significant gap at the intersection of human rights approaches to sex, gender, and sexuality with cultural practices. This calls for clarification within the Human Rights Bill regarding how practices such as virginity testing relate to same-sex identities.  By critically examining this issue, the paper aims to find meaningful solutions to the identified challenges, developing a virginity testing practice that is gender-diverse and inclusive of all, regardless of sexual identity. This research emerges from the author’s project conducted between August 2024 and July 2025.  Several issues emerged from this research, but this paper focuses on the experiences of Onomehlo, who observed same-sex practices within the context of virginity testing. The study employed qualitative methods to collect data and utilised indigenous knowledge systems through an African feminist perspective to enrich the analysis of these findings.