Virginity Testing and South Africa's HIV/AIDS Crisis: Beyond Rights Universalism and Cultural Relativism Toward Health Capabilities
Virginity Testing and South Africa's HIV/AIDS Crisis: Beyond Rights Universalism and Cultural Relativism Toward Health Capabilities
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贞操检验和南非的艾滋病毒/艾滋病危机：超越权利普遍主义和文化相对主义对健康能力的影响
作者：
Erika George
我探讨了性别平等、个人自主和不断演变的文化习俗之间的紧张关系，因为一种可以说违反普遍国际人权和国内宪法规范的传统做法也得到了强有力的支持——就像南非的处女检验的情况一样。处女检验的做法重新出现，不仅是对传统的回归，而且也是一种艾滋病毒/艾滋病预防策略。我研究了关于处女检验的争论以及政府最近的禁令，以便更充分地考虑自由主义作为人权基础在流行病压力下在多元文化背景下运作时的局限性。观察到如果缺乏对文化的欣赏，法律和生物医学方法都无法孤立地解决流行病问题，因此我呼吁从文化政治转向以“能力理论”为基础的实质性健康权，一种对待文化多元化的务实方法，以及对权利和文化作为背景和适应性的认识。
I explore the tensions between gender equality, personal autonomy and evolving cultural practices when a traditional practice that arguably violates universal international human rights and domestic constitutional norms also enjoys strong support—as is the case with virginity testing in South Africa. The practice of virginity testing has reemerged, advanced not only as a return to tradition but also as an HIV/AIDS prevention strategy. I examine the debates about virginity testing and its recent prohibition by the government in order to more fully consider the limitations of liberalism as the foundation for human rights when operating within a pluralistic cultural context under pressure from pandemic disease. Observing that neither legal nor biomedical approaches absent an appreciation for culture can in isolation address pandemic disease, I call for a discursive shift from the politics of culture towards a substantive right to health informed by “capabilities theory,” a pragmatic approach to cultural pluralism, and an appreciation of both rights and culture as contextual and adaptable.