The mothers in charge of the Dipo (puberty rites) at Dodowa in the Shai Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region are now allowing non-virgins to participate in the ceremonies because it is getting harder to find virgin adolescent girls.
Girls who have had abortions, pregnancies, or births are still not permitted to participate in the ceremonies.
According to them, many girls were now sexually active, leaving them with no choice but to allow “non-virgins” to take part in the rites.
The modification, they believe, will attract more adolescent girls to the rites which in the past were to usher only virgin girls between the ages of 10 and 15 into puberty or womanhood.
The mothers shared their concern when in an interview with The Mirror newspapers at the Dipo House at Dodowa.
The mothers are the elderly traditional women ensuring that the Dipo rites are performed.
The Dipo rite is a puberty rite performed by a few Dangme Groups – namely the Shai and the Krobo. It is a rite that transitions a female from Childhood into Womanhood.
In both the Shai and Krobo communities going through the Dipo rite is a prerequisite in becoming a woman who is capable of fully participating in the community, being a wife and having a family.
In Ancient times those who did not do it or got pregnant before the Dipo rite was done were considered outcasts – some banished from the community.
