Evaluating the impact on the girl child through the criminal activities associated with the practice of ukuthwala

Abstract

The world is composed of people who come from different walks of life and they practice various traditions that are informed by their way of life. In South Africa we have a cultural practice of ukuthwala which is my main research topic. The aim of this topic is to research and find practical solutions that can be used to combat criminal matters surrounding the practice of ukuthwala. The kind of research methodology used is desk top research. The information contained in this research is mostly coming from researchers, articles, journals, online sources has been combined to compile this thesis. This research will empower and educate victims of ukuthwala about their rights and responsibilities and further prevent future occurrences of this nature. The prevalence of criminal activities surrounding this tradition of ukuthwala has created many more questions than answers due to the number of young girls’ who are victims of this practice especially in rural areas. There are no accurate statistics collected by the authorities since there are other cases of ukuthwala that are not reported.