Young women dance to the Zulu king to celebrate virginity

The Reed Dance ceremony in KwaZulu Natal province in South Africa, celebrates virginity. Every year in early spring, tens of thousands of virgin young women dance topless in front of the Zulu king. This tradition was instituted by the Zulu king in 1984. A symbol of Zulu and Swazi culture, this practice remains controversial because it is meant to encourage young women to remain chaste in a country where the rate of AIDS is one of the highest in the world.