Arab Women Claim Sexual Knowledge and Power – OZY

“Knowledge is the first step towards change”, say the founders of maj, one of many online sexual health awareness platforms created by Arab women for Arab women. The founders of Mauj, who prefer to remain anonymous, speak candidly in the digital sphere about the challenges and injustices they faced as women, which led them to become online sex educators. They cite pervasive misinformation, shame and stigma as driving their activism. “We are checked at every marker of femininity,” reads the front page of their website. In a recent interview with OZY, they described how their experiences are common to women in the Arab world.

“We knew we weren’t alone in this and that our journey of learning about our bodies and our selves was not unique to us,” they said. In 2020 they launched Mauj.

Talking about sex is considered taboo in the Arab world, and this has served as a powerful motivation for the launch of a growing number of Arab sexual and reproductive wellness digital platforms. Users have access to science-based information and can ask questions of experts. The founders of Mauj believe that nothing about a woman’s sexual or reproductive health should surprise her. Neither, as the site says, as a mystery or a misery.

On Instagram, maj regularly publishes articles on sexual terminology, sexual pleasure, sexually transmitted diseases and many other issues on which schools and families in the Arab world generally remain silent. “What little information is available that is culturally relevant or in Arabic is either difficult to access, perpetuating stigma around women’s sexual and reproductive health, or, at worst, incorrect,” Mauj founders explained.

Mauj seeks to destigmatize the conversation around women’s bodies and, in doing so, normalize sexual and reproductive health. They hope to create the conditions that will eventually allow all Arab women to make informed decisions for themselves.

“The more we know about something, the less we fear it and the less taboo it becomes,” they said.

Most of these digital platforms are designed for women, but that does not necessarily mean that men in the Arab world have better information. Lebanese psychosexologist Sandrine Atallah argues that men are no more educated about sex and sexuality than women but are privileged enough to be content with the status quo. Many men feel threatened by the idea of ​​women taking an interest in their bodies and their rights. “Some of my male clients come in and say their female partners aren’t good enough in bed, but the truth is, it’s a man’s job to know his partner.[’s] preferences and try to satisfy them.

Gender inequality is often enshrined in penal codes in Arab countries. Harassment, assault and sexual abuse may not only be legal but culturally accepted in some places. Just eight years ago, in 2014, Morocco repealed a law that allowed rapists to avoid prosecution for their crime by marrying their victim. This change only came after the high-profile suicide of a rape victim who was forced to marry her attacker. Jordan repealed its version of the same law in 2017. So-called honor killings, in which a woman is killed by a male relative on suspicion of dishonoring the family through sexual intercourse, persist today. today in Iraq, Jordan and elsewhere. And female genital mutilation (FGM) remains practiced in Egypt and Sudan, although in 2020 Sudan ratified a law criminalizing it.

Yasmine Madkour, 32, is a somatic experience practitioner, meaning she seeks to help people feel good about their bodies and approaches mental health from a nervous system perspective. She is on a mission to raise awareness of the importance of working with the physical body as part of mental health, though she acknowledges that such therapy is still new to her Arab – and non-Arab – audience. Having already benefited from this type of therapy, Madkhour made a bold decision and moved to the United States to study and specialize, before returning to Egypt to practice.

Today, Madkhour primarily works with FGM survivors, couples facing sexual intimacy issues, and clients who identify as sexual minorities. “So many women in Egypt are still suffering from the negative effects of female genital mutilation, it is very important to work with these women to heal from the trauma this immoral surgery can cause,” she said.

On instagram, Madkhour tries to educate his audience on what somatic therapy is and how to take care of his body to be mentally well. She also tries to avoid controversial posts that would create a backlash. “I try to inform as many people as possible without going through heated arguments. I give more information upon request to my clients,” she said. For her, what really matters is “widening people’s access to knowledge of their bodies”.

Psychosexologist Sandrine Atallah started talking about sexual health in 2007 in a television program produced by Lebanese Television. “It was very surprising for Arab audiences to have such content on TV, but they were always interested and curious to know more about their bodies and their sexuality,” she told OZY in a post. video interview.

Atallah explained that social media gave her the opportunity to reach her viewers directly, and she shifted her focus from TV to the app: she now broadcasts on instagram, Youtube and ICT Tac, where his videos have amassed 678 million views. She notes that not everyone is a fan of her work. “A lot of men report my content on YouTube and TikTok because they’re not interested in seeing content that encourages women to know their bodies and their rights,” she said.

Asked if adding sex education to school curricula would solve the lack of information and resulting disempowerment among Arab women, Atallah said it would not be enough to simply change the teaching. school. She argues that families need to help create greater awareness by talking to their children about sex and sexuality.

“Sex education is not just about sexually transmitted diseases or how reproduction happens, but also about people accepting their bodies and knowing how to meet their sexual needs – especially women,” she said. at ozy.

In addition to working closely with clients at his sexology clinic in Beirut, Atallah is keen to continue creating content online. She says she can tell her audience has really started to understand her by the comments they leave. Raising awareness about sexual health is key, she says, to developing a broader community in which women and children are empowered and men are more aware of women’s sexual needs.

Atallah points out that education about their bodies will help protect children from sexual abuse and harassment, as they will have a better understanding of what is appropriate. And she envisions a time when Arab women say no to sexual interaction that doesn’t make them feel safe or satisfied.

What constitutes healthy sex education for young people?

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