Sexual cleansing (Kusalazya) and levirate marriage (Kunjilila mung’anda) in the era of AIDS: changes in perceptions and practices in Zambia

Since sexual cleansing (kusalazya) and the intertwined ritual of levirate marriage or widow and widower inheritance (kunjilila mung’anda) have come to be implicated in the transmission of HIV/AIDS, alternative rituals to sexual cleansing have emerged. Using both quantitative and qualitative data obtained from Zambia in the second half of 1998, this study reveals that the alternative rituals to sexual cleansing include sliding over a half-naked person (kucuta) or over an animal (kucuta ng’ombe or cow-jumping); use of herbs and roots (misamu); cleansing by a married couple. Concoctions or other rituals that were otherwise considered ‘alien’ in Southern Province, such as cutting of hair (kugela masusu) and application of some powder (kunanika busu), have also been adopted. The study, therefore, discusses various aspects of these alternative practices: who performs them and how; whether the processes are connected to polygyny (maali), levirate marriage (kunjilila mung’anda), and grabbing or inheriting property (kukona); and whether these practices are also risk factors in the spread of HIV/AIDS.