NCJ Number
234563
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 35 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2011 Pages: 142-146
Date Published
February 2011
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This study explored the reasons given by convicted sex offenders in Malawi accused of committing child sexual abuse and whether the reasons were motivated by a desire to cure HIV infection.
Abstract
The study found that: 36.2 percent of the participants denied any offense had occurred, 46.6 percent were motivated by a desire to satisfy their sexual desires, 10.3 percent committed the offense under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and none stated that it was a desire to cure or avoid HIV infection. Data for the study were obtained from interviews with 58 sex offenders in Malawi who were convicted of child sexual abuse; the median age of offenders was 30 years while the median age of the victims was 14 years. The study intent was to investigate the validity of the "HIV cleansing myth," a commonly cited yet unproven reason often used to explain the increase in reported cases of child sexual abuse in Sub-Saharan Africa. The "HIV cleansing myth" is a belief that an HIV-infected person can be cured of the disease by having sex with a child virgin. The findings from this study suggest that the "HIV cleansing myth" did not play any part in the offenders' motivations for committing sexual crimes against children. Table and references