Foreign Land: A Rift to My Mother's Legacy. The Perceptions of Congolese Migrant Women in Durban Towards the Practice of Preserving Virginity before Marriage

      Аннотация: This book explored the perceptions of Congolese migrant women towards the practice of preserving virginity as a form of purity until marriage by focusing on the opinions of Congolese migrant women living in Durban in South Africa. Virginity has social and significant legal implications in many societies in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and women have responsibilities to protect their virginity in order not to be viewed by society as impure. In DRC, virginity purity before marriage is viewed as the key contributor to the true meaning of womanhood. Because of that, it is culturally expected that woman should not engage in premarital sex. Thus, a woman should enter into marriage as a virgin; she should “give up” her virginity to her husband in the act of consummating the marriage. There are factors that make Congolese migrant women living in South Africa, specifically in Durban, not to continue to engage in the practice of virginity preservation before marriage as they are now immersed in a new and different society than that of DRC.

Ключевые слова: Virginity, Premarital sexuality, Marriage, honor, Migration, DRC, Womanhood, Congolese Migrant Women