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Article: Tribal Customs Worsen Spread of AIDS in Zambia
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- July 3, 1987
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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John Bwalya was supposed to sleep last fall with Alice, his
brother's widow.
The Zambians call it "cleansing." When a man dies, his widow is
expected to have sex with one of her in-laws, usually a brother.
According to a widely held traditional belief, this rids her of the
ghost of her husband and frees her to remarry.
Bwalya (who insisted on a pseudonym) says he was afraid to sleep
with Alice, however, because his brother, after a year's illness, had
died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS.
Despite pressure from the widow, her family and his own uncle,
Bwalya adamantly refused to cleanse his sister-in-law. With the help
of a sympathetic older brother, Bwalya fled his home ...