Sexual rites of passage

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A sexual rite of passage is a ceremonial event that marks the passage of a young person to sexual maturity and adulthood, or a widow from the married state to widowhood, and involves some form of sexual activity.

It is thought that the motivation to force daughters into requiring sexual experience with men is to make them more appealing as marriage prospects in poverty stricken areas where raising daughters, who have less economic prospects, is seen as a burden.^[1]