My Life Inside the Purity Movement

A 17-YEAR-OLD has committed herself to America’s Purity Movement - where daughter’s pledge abstinence to their fathers. The Purity Movement started in Colorado Springs 20 years ago. It was founded by the evangelical Randy Wilson and his wife Lisa and has since then spread across 48 states and 17 countries. The movement holds annual Purity Balls, as a ceremony for young girls to pledge to abstain from sex until they get married. The formal occasion, entails the girls wearing long white gowns and the fathers donning smart suits, attending a dinner and dance - making it look like a wedding. At the ceremony, fathers are given a key, representing their daughter's chastity, to eventually pass on to their daughter’s future husband. Both father and daughter then sign a purity contract and the daughters are given a purity ring to wear on their wedding ring finger. In Louisiana, 17-year-old Hannah Lee Powers is preparing to attend a Purity Ball with her father, Beauchamp.