By James Hall

MBABANE, Jun 7 (IPS) - Swaziland's return to tradition to curb HIV/AIDS with the revival of chastity rules for girls and single women eight months ago has drawn praise and brickbats in a country where one in three people are infected with the virus.

''Most girls adhere voluntarily. But in some instances there has been coercion on the part of the authorities,'' confirms Beauty Dlamini, 37, a counsellor for sexually abused women in Manzini, the commercial capital of Swaziland.

She approves of the new rules which she says give women a measure of control over their bodies in an otherwise very patriarchal society.

The custom is called umcwasho, which is the name of the headgear worn by girls and unmarried women. The ensemble is adorned by a long tassel that runs down the girls' backs: gold and blue wool for post-pubescent girls up to 18 years, and red and black for 19-year-olds and upwards. Not since the 1970s, when the present King Mswati's father, King Sobhuza, was the ruler has the custom been practiced.

''We discussed this with the authorities before hand. There was fear that AIDS was doing such harm to the country that a return to traditional values was desirable,'' said 23-year-old Lungile Ndlovu, a college student who proposed to King Mswati at his birthday celebration last September that her contemporaries should return to the traditional umcwasho.

The UN children's agency UNICEF says teenage girls are a high-risk group in this polygamous society where virginity is a premium. ''The older polygamists are always looking for new, young brides,'' says Alan Brody, the agency's country director for Swaziland. ''At the same time, the girls are pressured by their boyfriends to have sex. It is not a crime to have sex with a girl under 18 if you are under 18 yourself.''

In the early 19th century, King Somholo had an expedient way to discourage premarital sex. If a girl got pregnant, both she and the person responsible for her condition, were put to death.

The Swaziland Law Society asserts that the present custom is equally draconian, and discriminates against women. ''A pregnant girl is fined a cow, which represents the monthly net income of the average Swazi wage earner. The boy or man who has impregnated her is also liable to pay a fine, but he can simply deny responsibility. There is no DNA testing in Swaziland for one thing. We don't have the medical expertise,'' says attorney Jason Nxumalo.

''The punishment is slanted against the girl,'' avers sexual abuse counselor Dlamini. The custom was never a royal decree, although King Mswati has endorsed it.

Umcwasho violations are dealt with in the chief's court. Lawyers are barred from the hearings. ''Traditionalists hate lawyers because they say we twist things,'' says attorney Nxumalo. ''The truth is, some of these old men don't want their preconceptions to be challenged. The result is the girl is all alone before the elders, miserable in her pregnant condition, fearful of her father who has to give up one of his prized cows as a fine, and she is denied legal representation.''

In Swazi society, cows were the currency well into the 20th century. Today, a head of a Swazi household still calculates his worth by the number of cattle in his herd. A Swazi parent would be extremely reluctant to give away a cow as a fine for his daughter's indiscretion.

Agnes Kunene, a nurse at RFM hospital in Manzini, points out that ''there is a fear that the girls will be pressured by their fathers to abort the baby. Abortions are illegal in Swaziland. This means that the girls would be put through 'kitchen table' abortions, which are dangerous.''

Police are unable to say whether illegal abortions have risen in the eight months since the revival of umcwasho. Instead, the custom has spawned a new problem for the police. They are concerned by the increase in incidents of young women taking the enforcement of the custom into their own hands.

They have been receiving reports at least once a month from various parts of the kingdom of groups of up to 40 girls and young women marching on the homestead of a girl suspected of being pregnant, or a boy thought to be the impregnator. As an act of protest, they toss their umcwasho on to the thatched roof of the huts of the victim's family. The headgear is left there to shame the family into paying the fine of one cow.

''These girls are thugs,'' fumes Gladys Ndlangamandla, a resident of rural Luve where one such incident occurred. ''They just want a cow, which they slaughter and eat for themselves. There is no hearing at the chief's place. The families give in to this blackmail to get rid of the umcwasho tassels.''

Is there any good to have emerged from the revived chastity custom? Plenty, according to health officials.

''Anything that cuts down HIV infection is a literal lifesaver,'' says nurse Kunene.

UNICEF estimates that the additional burden every year for the forseeable future of 10,000 AIDS orphans will put a strain on the kingdom's social welfare services. Some factory managers at the central Matsapha Industrial Estate have reported that nearly half their workers are HIV-positive or have full-blown AIDS. This is confirmed by a Manzini consultancy agency that is arranging for immigrant workers from other countries in and outside Africa to meet Swazi needs.

UNICEF's Brody believes umcwasho could change the sexual behaviour of young people in Swaziland. ''We have tried promoting condom usage, and it hasn't worked,'' he admits. ''Abstinence is something the churches advocate. For one thing, churches feel they cannot promote condoms. For another, changing behaviour is critical for the girls' survival.''

When umcwasho was revived, the print media sardonically predicted that no modern girl would want to wear the traditional headgear. They were making a mistake.

''I feel like a real Swazi wearing this,'' says Lungsile Khoza of the umcwasho, which publicly proclaims her status as a virgin. She says her friends are also not embarrassed about wearing the headgear. They like to advertise that their sexual lives are in their own hands.

''As long as wearing umcwasho is voluntary it's a good thing,'' says counselor Dlamini. ''Some school headmasters wish to impress the royal authorities, and they have made the umcwasho compulsory for girl students. This is discrimination, because there is no comparable custom for the boys. We must address these concerns (of discrimination).''

The chastity rule affects roughly 200,000 girls and unmarried women in the kingdom. Both traditionalists and human rights advocates recognise the danger from HIV/AIDS to young people, particularly girls, in a society where patriarchy dominates. As a traditional custom Umcwasho offers them some protection from sexual exploitation within and outside the family. (END/IPS/AF/HE/JH/AN/02)