Sexual taboo in the Middle East

The Middle East, which is commonly known as a region that includes most countries of Southwestern Asia, the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Peninsula, and several North African countries, and are often seen as part of a wider cultural and geopolitical landscape. Majority of the people in these countries participate in Abrahamic religions such as Islam, Christianity, or Judaism, some of which prohibit premarital sex depending on the wide variety of different sects. While dating and premarital sex are looked down upon for religious and social reasons, it is not illegal.^[1] In addition, young people rarely learn about sexual health in school, and other sources of information may not be reliable.^[2]

Sexuality is an essential part of everyday life, which not only includes sex, gender identities and sexual orientation, but also pleasure and intimacy, and as the World Health Organization argued, the sexual health of a women is physical, mental, and emotional state of being, which should be not tolerated but accepted.^[3] Cultural taboos consist of Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) and other related issues, such as early marriage, female genital mutation, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and women who suffer from the ignorance of all of these, which globally seen as basic rights. ^[4]

^ Motamedi, Mahnaz; Merghati-Khoei, Effat; Shahbazi, Mohammad; Rahimi-Naghani, Shahrzad; Salehi, Mehrdad; Karimi, Mehrdad; Hajebi, Ahmad; Khalajabadi-Farahani, Farideh (30 August 2016). "Paradoxical attitudes toward premarital dating and sexual encounters in Tehran, Iran: a cross-sectional study". Reproductive Health. 13 (1): 102. doi:10.1186/s12978-016-0210-4. ISSN 1742-4755. PMC 5006512. PMID 27576489.
^ DeJong, Jocelyn; Shepard, Bonnie; Roudi-Fahimi, Farzaneh; Ashford, Lori (April 2007). "Young People's Sexual and Reproductive Health in the Middle East and North Africa" (PDF). Population Reference Bureau. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.552.2252.
^ Elsayed, Reem; Zembe-Mkabile, Wanga (6 March 2024). "Women's access to sexual and reproductive health services and information in Ismailia, Egypt". BMC Women's Health. 24 (1). doi:10.1186/s12905-024-02986-4. ISSN 1472-6874. PMC 10918981.
^ Giacaman, Rita; Al-Ryami, Asya; Bashour, Hyam; DeJong, Jocelyn; Gaballah, Noha; Gherissi, Atf; Tekce, Belgin; Zurayk, Huda (2015). "Importance of research networks: the Reproductive Health Working Group, Arab world and Turkey". The Lancet. 383 (9915): 483–485. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(13)62704-x. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 24452048 – via Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN).

[1] Motamedi, Mahnaz; Merghati-Khoei, Effat; Shahbazi, Mohammad; Rahimi-Naghani, Shahrzad; Salehi, Mehrdad; Karimi, Mehrdad; Hajebi, Ahmad; Khalajabadi-Farahani, Farideh (30 August 2016). "Paradoxical attitudes toward premarital dating and sexual encounters in Tehran, Iran: a cross-sectional study". Reproductive Health. 13 (1): 102. doi:10.1186/s12978-016-0210-4. ISSN 1742-4755. PMC 5006512. PMID 27576489.

[:2-2] DeJong, Jocelyn; Shepard, Bonnie; Roudi-Fahimi, Farzaneh; Ashford, Lori (April 2007). "Young People's Sexual and Reproductive Health in the Middle East and North Africa" (PDF). Population Reference Bureau. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.552.2252.

[:6-3] Elsayed, Reem; Zembe-Mkabile, Wanga (6 March 2024). "Women's access to sexual and reproductive health services and information in Ismailia, Egypt". BMC Women's Health. 24 (1). doi:10.1186/s12905-024-02986-4. ISSN 1472-6874. PMC 10918981.

[4] Giacaman, Rita; Al-Ryami, Asya; Bashour, Hyam; DeJong, Jocelyn; Gaballah, Noha; Gherissi, Atf; Tekce, Belgin; Zurayk, Huda (2015). "Importance of research networks: the Reproductive Health Working Group, Arab world and Turkey". The Lancet. 383 (9915): 483–485. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(13)62704-x. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 24452048 – via Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN).

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