Dads taking their daughters virginity

In a chandelier-lit ballroom overlooking the Rocky Mountains one recent evening, some hundred couples feast on herb-crusted chicken and julienned vegetables. The men look dapper in tuxedos; their dates are resplendent in floor-length gowns, long white gloves and tiaras framing twirly, ornate updos. Seated at a table with four couples, I watch as the gray-haired man next to me reaches into his breast pocket, pulls out a small satin box and flips it open to check out a gold ring he's about to place on the finger of the woman sitting to his right. Her eyes well up with tears as she is overcome by emotion.

Many girls and women would rather stick pins in their eyes than discuss you-know-what with their fathers. And, for the most part, that feeling is probably mutual. But one such phenomenon is sweeping the Christian community, with teenage girls some even younger publicly pledging to abstain from sex until they are married. Known as 'Purity Balls', these fancy religious events are a celebration of the daughter's virginity. Daughters often wear ball gowns, spend the evening eating and dancing with their fathers, before vowing to remain 'morally pure' until married.

By Katy Winter. During the ceremony, fathers present their daughters with purity rings, which they wear to symbolise their commitment to virginity. Ron Johnson, who is the head pastor at the Living Stones Church, kneels to present one of his younger daughters with her purity ring in the new documentary exploring the growing phenomenon of father daughter purity balls. Balls now take place in 48 states in the US, and in 17 countries worldwide. In the movement purity means no sexual contact of any kind, including kisses, until after marriage.

A year-old man, Wasiu Orilonise has confessed to repeatedly raping his year-old daughter. He claims he did it to confirm if she was a virgin and to protect her. This is yet another story in which a father rapes daughter. It would seem the unfortunate incident has become more rampant lately. The prosecutor, Mr Sunday Ogunremi, told the court that the accused had sometime in December at Omo village, Agbofieti, Ibadan, in the Ibadan Magisterial District, raped the victim without her consent.