How Hiv infected man is paid £3 to take virgity of young female children

Eric Aniva is popularly known in his village as a "hyena", who implies using sex
as part of a "cleansing" ritual - and locals even claim there's "nothing wrong" with what he does

Eric Aniva, a HIV-infected man in his 40s open up on how he makes a living by being paid to have sex with children.

Eric Aniva, who did not reveal his exact age, lives in the Nsanje district of southern Malawi where he works a sex worker.

His "hyena" work is laid into the sacred traditions of his village.
There, young women are regularly "cleansed" by having sex with a hyena, sometimes as punishment for an offence such as having an abortion.

Mr Aniva, speaking to BBC, said: "Most of those I have slept with are girls, school-going girls."
"Some girls are just 12 or 13 years old, but I prefer them older.
All these girls find pleasure in having me as their hyena.
"They actually are proud and tell other people that this man is a real man, he knows how to please a woman."
However, with one in 10 Malawians having HIV, the work of hyenas is riddled with the risk of spreading serious disease.
Mr Aniva himself has HIV, but continues his work regardless.
He is paid £3 to £5 by locals to perform the sex rituals.
And village elders, who are responsible for organising the "cleansing", insist that they are necessary to "avoid infection with their parents or the rest of the community".

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Commenting on the matter, Dr May Shaba, permanent secretary of the Ministry of
Gender and Welfare, said: "We are not going to condemn these people. But we are going to give them information that they need to change their rituals."
Also, one the village elders, Chrissie, said: "There's nothing wrong with our culture.
"If you look at today's society, you can see that girls are not responsible, so we have to train our girls in a good manner in the village, so that they don't go astray, are good wives
so that the husband is satisfied, and so that nothing bad happens to their families."