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Druze Women Balance Sexual Health, Pleasure, and Tradition
Why you can trust us
Sex education is still a widely controversial topic: While some people believe it鈥檚 essential to teach young people about sex and sexuality in schools, others argue that it鈥檚 inappropriate and should be left to parents to discuss with their children. Having 鈥渢he talk鈥� can be uncomfortable and embarrassing, and it becomes challenging if you鈥檙e part of a tiny, close-knit community like the Druze, one of the major religious groups in the Levant.
There are just over 1 million Druze people worldwide. They mainly live in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and Palestine, with communities also present in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Latin America.聽聽
鈥淲e are very much a community where if I hear someone鈥檚 last name, I will be able to place them: what country they鈥檙e from, who their family is, who their relatives are,鈥� says Deena Naime, a Druze born and raised in the U.S. 鈥淎nd I think that鈥檚 very important, because when you come from a community like that, it also really impacts things like sexuality, sexual identity, and sexual education.鈥�
Being part of a community where everyone knows each other makes these discussions difficult. Naime says, 鈥淎nything that you want to know or need to know or need to express and share, most of the time, you cannot do that without the luxury of anonymity,鈥� says Naime. 鈥淎nonymity is very important. There must be a great amount of trust to have those conversations without anonymity. That trust usually happens between women when they start to have certain conversations. But in our community, it鈥檚 not always possible because a family member is often present.鈥�
The Druze are a small religious and ethnic group with a rich history and cultural heritage. Originating in Egypt, their faith can be traced back to the 11th century and was influenced by many religious sources, including the Quran, Christian and Jewish scriptures, and Greek philosophy. They have since evolved into a unique group rooted in traditions and a strong sense of community. Most of their beliefs and practices are concealed from outsiders to preserve their religious heritage.
鈥淭he Druze community is very tight-knit. You鈥檙e born into the community. If someone wanted to convert, they couldn鈥檛. That鈥檚 partially why we are such a small group. It also comes from a background of persecution. And because of that, we have a kind of secretive identity,鈥� Naime explains.聽
鈥淪exual Education Is Not Spoken About鈥�
Although the Druze community holds an egalitarian regard for men and women in things like marriage, divorce, and inheritance, their views on women鈥檚 bodies and sexuality are conservative and characterized by a traditional way of life. However, it varies by generation and the country in which they live.
鈥淲e are very much an honor-based community. And one aspect of how we experience honor is through what I鈥檒l call female 鈥榩urity鈥� or 鈥榠nnocence鈥�: In theory, girls in our community are expected to be virgins until they鈥檙e married,鈥� Naime says. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 an antiquated belief. It does not hold true to younger generations or across the board. It鈥檚 similar again to other religious communities in that respect: It鈥檚 an idea, but it鈥檚 not legitimized. People don鈥檛 go along with that.鈥�
鈥淪exual education is not really spoken about. It鈥檚 expected that girls figure that out along the way. My experience is different because I was raised and educated in the United States. Like most Druze girls in the diaspora, my sexual wellness and health education came from school.鈥�
For Noor Jaber, it was different. She is a Druze public health expert living in Lebanon, where it is deemed inappropriate to have sex education at schools. Although there was an attempt to introduce a comprehensive program for youth 12-to-14 years old in 1995, it was removed after criticism from several political and religious groups.
鈥淭here are several programs that run haphazardly, but nothing is done by the state. My parents know the importance of sexual health education, and my mother educated me on sex and menstruation,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut I find that a lot of young girls in my community, when they reach puberty, are unaware about this basic physiological phenomenon that they pass through every month鈥攖hey have no clue about it.鈥�
The Impact on Women鈥檚 Health
鈥淭here are a lot of challenges associated with a woman鈥檚 sexual and reproductive health, especially if it is not related to marriage and reproduction,鈥� Jaber explains. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a taboo. Topics like endometriosis, for example. If you鈥檙e a single woman, seeking information and getting care is very difficult. Without a safe space to be able to discuss and ask questions, women are worried they might be shamed or blamed for talking about sexual health.鈥�
Jaber shares her personal experience to highlight how hard this can be. 鈥淎s a health expert, I know that even if I鈥檓 not married or engaging in sexual activity, I should get a yearly checkup by a gynecologist. I used to freak out. The doctor鈥檚 assistant鈥檚 first question would be: 鈥楢re you married?鈥� Then I would feel like, what should I tell her? Regardless of what I tell her, she shouldn鈥檛 be asking this question as the gateway for me being eligible or not to access this service. And the fact that the assistant is from the community, you feel that extra pressure鈥攊f I open up, she would go and talk. You don鈥檛 trust them, there is no confidentiality. And that is coming from someone who鈥檚 educated. Other women wouldn鈥檛 even try to access the service.鈥�
鈥淭he lack of a comprehensive sex education can create a lot of mental health problems. It impacts your body image and the way you govern specific body decisions,鈥� she explains. 鈥淲hen they get married, many women suffer from vaginismus because they鈥檙e so scared of their first sexual experience. Their bodies start having those involuntary responses of it being this traumatic experience and that they don鈥檛 have a right to actually enjoy it, because it鈥檚 鈥榟aram鈥� or shameful.鈥�
鈥淲omen are also unaware of dangerous signs and don鈥檛 seek support or care that would prevent a lot of problems, like breast or ovarian cancer. The fact that we don鈥檛 talk about it means they might get diagnosed at a very late stage, when it becomes too late to intervene.鈥�
Breaking the Silence Around Sexuality and Health
The internet has played a significant role in the sexual education of young Druze people. For Jaber, it is an opportunity to create a safe space for young girls and women.
Wishing to make a change and break the stigma around sexual health, Jaber created NAWAT to support young girls and women in her community to access information and make informed decisions about their bodies, sexuality, and relationships. It鈥檚 a digital platform in both English and Arabic that offers educational courses on sexual and reproductive health and connects women with experts anonymously and confidentially.聽
鈥淚 want to shift the discourse around sex education and make it pleasure-positive,鈥� says Jaber. 鈥淧leasure is the most important motivation to have sex. But many of us have learned about sex and our sexuality through negative messages that focus on fear and shame. So while prevention remains vital, managing risks associated with unsafe sexual behaviors is not the only way to talk about sex. The enjoyment of sex and ensuring women鈥檚 health and rights are important.鈥�
鈥淲e also want to include a holistic aspect, bringing in both traditional and alternative medical approaches,鈥� Jaber adds. 鈥淔or example, if a woman has endometriosis, she needs to understand how her body works and what is causing that clinically. But how do we bring in the mental health aspects to support her through that journey? How do we bring in the physical aspects like exercise or nutrition? So rather than looking at her sexual and reproductive health like a disease and a cure, it鈥檚 more about looking at the overall quality of how a woman deals with it as part of her everyday life.鈥澛�
鈥淲omen Are Creating Their Own Care Network鈥�
Naime, who is working on a Ph.D. dissertation on how women cultivate spaces of intimacy and care in Druze communities, explains how access to safe online spaces impacts younger generations.聽
鈥淚t is something that is drastically changing in our community. Women are very interested in making a change in terms of sexual education,鈥� says Naime. They are starting these conversations not just with their own children but with their peers and their friends. There are also a lot of conversations happening right now, even between women and men, in terms of women advocating for more sexual education and more awareness around sexual health and wellness.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 significantly increasing over the generations,鈥� Naime continues. 鈥淚 see, for example, the difference between how older generations of women educated their daughters on things like menstruation versus how women are now educating their children about having their periods and what that cycle looks like.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 also partly because information is now more accessible鈥攖hat鈥檚 very important,鈥� she adds. 鈥淲e are at a point in time right now when we understand women鈥檚 sexual health in a different way than we ever understood it before. People realize that the female body is different, and that is also reflected in our community.鈥�
鈥淒ruze education, both in terms of Druze studies and education within the Druze community, is actually skyrocketing,鈥� Naime concludes. 鈥淚t is really a crucial time right now in the Druze community, where a lot of these things are coming up to the surface, and people are doing this work. It鈥檚 an exciting time because a lot of this change is happening, and it鈥檚 beautiful.鈥�
This story was (UAE) and is republished within the program, supported by the ICFJ, .
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Alia Chebbab
is the co-founder of NADJA Media, an independent digital media startup launched to advocate for a greater and fairer representation of women in media. She has reported on women鈥檚 participation in politics, arts and sports, climate change, sexism and inequality, and disability and women鈥檚 rights. She previously worked for the BBC and is now based in Dubai.
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