Voluntary medical male circumcision versus religio-cultural circumcision and initiation rites: The case of Varemba of Mwenezi district in response to the prevention of human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Male circumcision has long been associated with religious or cultural rituals which bestow culturally valuable status. In some communities, circumcision is believed to provide concomitant access to economic and spiritual resources such as land and the ability to communicate with the ancestors. However, the recent promotion of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) in 2009 as an additional dimension for reducing the spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was received with mixed feelings by different people in Zimbabwe. The resistance was more pronounced in those districts where male circumcision was a traditional norm. It is considering this background where this article examines whether VMMC and religio-cultural male circumcision are distant cousins or siamese twins. This is performed by taking a leaf from the Varemba of Mwenezi district in Zimbabwe. Data collection was performed between May and October 2017 using in-depth individual interviews within the context of the hermeneutics paradigm which emphasises the existence of multiple realities across time and culture. Our analysis of data shows that the Varemba of Mwenezi district does not believe in the efficacy of VMMC because it is void of the ritualistic cultural–spiritual dimension that usually accompanies male circumcision. The study recommended that VMMC should contextualise the cultural value to achieve set targets for HIV prevention.