At sex initiation camps in Malawi, girls as young as 10 are shown how to have sex and forbidden from using condoms

The girls in Malawi are taken to the camps where they are taught to have sex and expected to lose their virginity. The ‘campers’ are usually tricked by their families into attending these camps and they are told that they must either have sex or get a skin disease.

The horrifying practice is not new – it is a time-honored ritual passed through generations and the girls are sent by their families to make sure they are accepted into their communities as adults. When she was aged 10 Grace was sent to an initiation camp which took place not far from her home in Golden Village, where Grace lives with her grandmother, reports CNN.

During her week-long stay she said she was taught her about respecting her elders and doing household chores, but also how to have sex by the women that led the camp who are known as he women, known as anamkungwi, or ‘key leaders’.

She told a group of journalists visiting Malawi with the United Nations Foundation that the women demonstrated sexual positions and encouraged girls to do ‘sexual cleansing,’ also called kusasa fumbi, which meant they should get rid of their inexperience with sex through practice.