HIV-Infected 'Hyena' Convicted over Unprotected Sex with 104 Women & Girls in Malawi

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A HIV-positive sex worker who admitted to having unprotected sex with scores of women and girls as part of a “cleansing ritual has been convicted by a Malawi court of engaging in harmful cultural practises.

Eric Aniva, 45, was convicted Friday under section five of Malawi’s Gender Equality Act for breaking the law against “harmful practices," reports The Daily Times of Malawi, which stem from his role in ritualistic “sexual cleansing."

As a "hyena," 45-year-old Aniva was paid $4, often by young girls’ parents, to have sex with them as soon as they entered puberty for “sexual cleansing." He was also hired to have sex with newly bereaved widows to "exorcise" the spirits of their deceased husbands.

Young girls often don’t have a say as to whether they want to partake in the "cleansing." Some of the girls Aniva had unprotected sex with were as young as 12.

Widows reportedly sought Aniva’s services because “if she doesn’t any future deaths in the village can be blamed on her,”reports the Washington Post.

“Most of those I have slept with are girls, school-going girls,” said Aniva to the BBC in a televised interview that eventually led to his arrest. “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,” he added.

According to custom, sex with the "hyena" should not be protected sex, as these men are believed to have “good morals” and so cannot be infected with the disease. When Aniva learned of his diagnosis, he failed to inform the community and continued to knowingly have unprotected sex.

The BBC documentary featuring Aniva aired in July and sparked international uproar that led to Malawi president Peter Mutharika condemning the ancient practice and ordering Aniva’s arrest.

“While we must promote positive cultural values and positive socialization of our children, the president says harmful cultural and traditional practices cannot be accepted in this country,” said the president’s spokesman, Mgeme Kalilani, in a statement.

“All people involved in this malpractice should be held accountable for subjecting their children and women to this despicable evil. These horrific practices although done by a few also tarnish the image of the whole nation of Malawi internationally and bring shame to us all.”

The legal age for consent in Malawi was raised from 13 to 16 in 2011, reports the Guardian, and Aniva was initially arrested for sexually assault underage girls. However when nobody came forward to testify against him, the charges were changed to having sex with bereaved widows, which was outlawed under the Malawi Gender Equality Act of 2013.

Aniva was convicted after the one-day trial and faces a maximum prison sentence of five years. His sentence will be handed down on November 22.

HIV-Positive Man Hired to Have Sex with Children in ‘Cleansing’ Ritual Arrested in Malawi

It's time for this African country to emerge

from the dark ages

Police have arrested and charged for defilement a Malawian man who claims to have HIV and says he is hired by families to have sex with young women, some of them children, for ritual ‘sexual cleansing’.

The accused, Eric Aniva, said in a number of interviews he is a sex worker - labeled locally a ‘hyena’ - and parents employ him to have sex with young girls when they reach puberty. He also confessed having HIV.

Aniva’s revelations led to the Malawian president ordering his arrest.

In southern regions of Malawi it is traditional for girls to be forced to have sex with a man after their first menstruation, as part of an act of initiation into adulthood - called ‘kusasa fumbi’. The girls can be as young as 12 years old.

The majority of the girls Aniva was with are underage, Malawi police inspector General Lexten Kachama said, as quoted by AP.

President Peter Mutharika said in his official statement that Aniva’s “evil acts” should be probed and the offender should “further be charged accordingly.”

Mutharika added that no such criminal act under the guise of culture could be accepted, and urged security forces to look into all men and parents related to “this shocking malpractice.”

Malawian human rights lawyer Chrispine Sibande said putting one man in prison is far from enough, as “the practice is very rampant in some of parts of the country.”

A Human Rights Watch report two years ago revealed that between 2010 and 2013, some 44,000 Malawian girls dropped out of school due to pregnancy. 

The watchdog urged “to end widespread child marriage” in Malawi. Half of all girls are married before their 18th birthday, the report added. Some are forced to marry as early as aged nine or 10.

Texas Missionary in Prison in Malawi for Child Sex Abuse

ODESSA, TEXAS -- A Texas missionary accused of sexually molesting 11 children at a Malawi orphanage will continue to be held in a federal detention center in Odessa without bond after he waived a preliminary hearing regarding the probable cause for his arrest.

The Odessa American reports that Gerald Dean Campbell, who is charged with engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places, waived the hearing Friday and could face up to life in federal prison if convicted.

According to a federal complaint, Campbell admitted to agents when they interviewed him last month to having sexual contact with 11 orphans, eight of whom he believed to be minors.

Campbell was the general manager of the Victory Christian Children's Home from 1997 until 2009, when he resigned amid the sexual abuse claims.

Campbell is a member of Grace Fellowship Church, Odessa, TX, which has had ties with the children’s home for a number of years.

Roy Key, the former business manager at the church and occasional pastor, said he’s known Campbell since shortly after joining the church in 2008, and he heard rumors of the reported sexual abuse when he became business manager.

“I heard the rumors,” Key said. “I also was told that the Malawi police and the tribal authority over there and the social services agency over there investigated them and deemed them not to be true.”

The organization that runs the home, Charles Trombley Ministries, also was made aware of the accusations in 2009, according to the criminal complaint, at which point Campbell resigned from his position but still remained active in the local church.

A video on the ministry website, which has since been removed from the Grace Fellowship website, briefly features Campbell on camera while a boy speaks about his time at the home.

At one point, Key said, Campbell was the business manager of Grace Fellowship.

Key said now that he’s seen the criminal complaint, he believes Campbell abused the orphans.

“Sunday I’m going to make an announcement at the church about the story that’s come out and I’m going to ask if anyone has had any contact with him that’s inappropriate to contact me immediately so we can contact the authorities,” Key said.

Campbell admitted to federal agents when they interviewed him on Sept. 25 to having sexual contact with 11 orphans, eight of whom he believed to be minors, according to the complaint.

He said he fondled two of the boys’ genitals and engaged in oral sex with them, according to the complaint.

One of the boys, a now-21-year-old man, said Campbell sexually abused him in 2001 after the boy was released from the hospital. According to the complaint, the man said Campbell routinely touched his genitals and forced oral sex, once trying to have anal sex with the boy.

Campbell told Homeland Security Investigations agents that he took advantage of the boys “because I knew I could,” according to the complaint. He also said of one of the reported victims, “Who would believe him?”

According to the complaint, Campbell also paid two of the orphans money or other things of value to keep them quiet.

A significant portion of people traveling internationally to engage in sexual acts with children are U.S. citizens, according to a report by international child abuse awareness advocate ECPAT. The organization’s website states that it works to end child prostitution, child pornography and the trafficking of children for sexual purposes.

“It is a common belief among some Americans who sexually exploit children that it is legal and culturally acceptable to have sex with children in some foreign countries. Some of these sex tourists see such exploitation as a respectable way of helping a poor child earn money,” according to the report. “It is reported that the U.S. government does not generate sufficient awareness or provide prevention messages on child sex tourism and many travelers are unaware that engaging in child sex tourism is an offense in the (United States), no matter where it is committed.”

Key said he does not believe the man abused any children in Odessa, calling him a loner and that “he stays away from everybody.”

“I can say nothing more than (I’m) disappointed. Just disappointed,” Key said. “It’s like you lost a family member. It’s like a friend has died and the person that I knew has died. There’s grieving, there’s anger, but I’m disappointed.”