Swaziland to pay girls $18 a month to remain virgins

King’s planned programme reportedly aims to curb HIV transmission.

Swaziland plans to pay girls about $18 a month for abstaining from sex, according to local reports. The programme, reportedly approved by King Mswati III, is intended to reduce HIV transmission in a country with one of the highest HIV transmission rates in the world.

According to South Africa’s Independent Online, the initiative seeks to give girls a stipend so they will turn down money offered to them for sex, which many use to purchase basic necessities.

Online, there were mixed opinions regarding the planned initiative: