Mothers in charge of Dipo puberty rites at Dodowa in the Shai Osudoku District in the Greater Accra Region are now allowing non-virgins to take part in the rites because it is becoming difficult to get virgin adolescent girls.

However, girls who have had abortions, given birth or carried pregnancies are still not allowed to go through the rites.

According to the mother, many girls were now sexually active, leaving them with no choice but to allow “non-virgins” to take part in the rites.

The modification, they believe, will attract more adolescent girls to the rites which in the past were to usher only virgin girls between the ages of 10 and 15 into puberty or womanhood.

The mothers shared their concern when The Mirror team visited the Dipo House at Dodowa to witness this year’s ceremony.

The mothers are the elderly traditional women ensuring that the Dipo rites are performed.

The mothers who were in their 80s, said they were unhappy that the current generation was not interested in learning the processes of the rites.

They feared that, if they all pass away, there will be no one to replace them to perform the rites for the girls in the community.

Ushering the reporter into the Dipo house, one of the mothers asked: Do you see any deity here?

30 girls were wearing various types of beads which covered their nakedness.

The old woman said people had a lot of misconceptions which destroyed “the beauty and essence of our culture. 

And because of that, no one wants to come to us and learn.