Challenges of Criminalizing ukuthwala and Protecting Girls in South Africa

COMMENT Lea Mwambene and Roberta Mgidlana In this short note we ask: What are the challenges of criminalizing ukuthwala in the protection of girls affected by the practice? Ukuthwala is a ‘romantic mock abduction’ of an unmarried woman by a man who intended to marry her.[1]The intention is to force the girl’s family to enter…