A South African mayor has awarded college scholarships to 16 young women for remaining virgins to encourage others to be "pure and focus on school," her spokesman said.

南非一城市为16位年轻的女大学生颁发了“处女奖学金”。市长发言人表示，此举旨在鼓励女生“洁身自爱、专注学习”。

The scholarship was introduced this year and has been awarded to young women from the Uthukela district in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, mayoral spokesman Jabulani Mkhonza said. Each year the mayor's office awards scholarships to more than 100 promising high school and university students from the area, he said.

市长发言人亚布拉尼·姆卡恩纳称，“处女奖学金”于今年设立，已有来自夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省东部乌塔卡拉行政区的年轻女性获得此奖。他表示，市政府每年都会嘉奖100多位有发展前途的当地高中生及大学生。

The young women who applied for the scholarships voluntarily stayed virgins and agreed to have regular virginity tests to keep their funding, Uthukela Mayor Dudu Mazibuko told South African talk radio station 702.

杜度·马兹布库是乌塔卡拉行政区莱迪史密斯市的市长。她在南非702电台的谈话节目中称，申请该奖学金的女性必须甘当处子，且需同意定期接受处女检测，一旦查出非处，则立刻取消奖学金。

"To us, it's just to say thank you for keeping yourself and you can still keep yourself for the next three years until you get your degree or certificate," Mazibuko said.

“感谢迄今为止仍保持处女身的女性，希望你们可以选择再洁身自爱三年，直至拿到学历或毕业证书为止，”马兹布库如是说。

The grants will be renewed "as long as the child can produce a certificate that she is still a virgin," she said. The scholarships focus on young women because they are more vulnerable to exploitation, teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, she said.

她表示：“只要获奖者能提供处女证明”，就能一直获得奖学金。她补充道，“处女奖学金”选择年轻女性为嘉奖对象，是因为她们更易受人蛊惑，容易出现不小心怀孕或染上性病等问题。

South Africa's department of basic education recorded about 20,000 pregnancies among girls and young women in schools in 2014, with 223 pregnant girls still in primary school, according to the South African Broadcasting Corporation. A household survey conducted by Statistics South Africa found that 5.6 percent of South African females aged 14 to 19 were pregnant in 2013.

据南非广播公司报道，根据南非基础教育部门的数据，2014年，所有在校女生中，约有两万人怀孕，其中包括223名小学生孕妇。南非统计局的一项家庭调查显示，2013年，在南非14至19岁的女性中，怀孕人数占5.6%。

"I think the intentions of the mayor are great but what we don't agree with is giving bursaries for virginity," said chairman for the Commission for Gender Equality Mfanozelwe Shozi. "There is an issue around discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, virginity and even against boys. This is going too far."

性别平等协会主席马诺泽薇·肖兹表示：“我觉得市长的本意固然是好的，但我们反对以处女为噱头评选奖学金。以是否怀孕、是否童贞，甚至是否远离男孩为评选标准，是对女性的歧视。已经远远背离了初衷。”

Virginity testing is not against South Africa's constitution but it is essential that it is done with consent, said Shozi.

肖兹称，处女测试虽不违背南非宪法，但务必要先征得当事人同意。

Some activists have called for the banning of virginity testing in South Africa, describing it as sexist and invasive. Those defending the cultural practice say it preserves tradition and has been modernized to teach girls about their reproductive health and HIV and AIDS.

一些社会活动家已呼吁南非政府禁止处女测试，他们认为这是对女性的歧视和侮辱。而支持者则称，处女测试既利于保留文化传统，又能与时俱进地教给女孩们有关生殖健康以及艾滋病方面的知识。