ABSTRACT

Exploring the contemporary dynamics of sexuality in the Middle East, this volume offers an in-depth and unique insight into this much contested and debated issue. It focuses on the role of sexuality in political and social struggles and the politicization of sexuality and gender in the region. Contributors illustrate the complexity of discourses, debates and issues, focusing in particular on the situation in Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Palestine and Turkey, and explain how they cannot be reduced to a single underlying factor such as religion, or a simple binary opposition between the religious right and feminists. Contributors include renowned academicians, researchers, psychologists, historians, human rights and women's rights advocates and political scientists, from different countries and backgrounds, offering a balanced and contemporary perspective on this important issue, as well as highlighting the implication of these debates in larger socio-political contexts.

chapter 1|16 pages

Introduction

Sexuality as a Contested Political Domain in the Middle East

chapter 4|18 pages

Fighting Honor Crimes

Evidence of Civil Society in Jordan 1

chapter 5|18 pages

Sex Education in Lebanon

Between Secular and Religious Discourses

chapter 8|12 pages

Militarization, Nation and Gender

Women's Bodies as Arenas of Violent Conflict

chapter 9|22 pages

Towards a Cultural Definition of Rape

Dilemmas in Dealing with Rape Victims in Palestinian Society 1

chapter 10|16 pages

The ‘Natasha' Experience

Migrant Sex Workers from the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in Turkey 1