17 Things to Remember About Sexuality

This Summer I had a kickass honeymoon in Turkey, a glorious and complicated place; religious, sensual, ancient, modern, all things juxtaposed at once. A destination at the crossroads, lots of different people visit Turkey to play. I saw Saudi Arabians shopping like crazy, Russians doing “business”, and Brits frying themselves on sand beaches and engaging in a dangerous combination of karaoke and pole dancing. I could have stayed there a year.

After gallivanting in the sun, I topped off my trip with some serious feminism. I had the pleasure of meeting up with Efsa Kuraner, from Women for Women’s Human Rights, an organization at the forefront of Women’s Rights and Women’s Sexual Rights in Muslim societies.  They were preparing for their second conference for the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Society. I was honored when Efsa decided to include THE LINE in their program and share it with activists from the Middle East, North Africa and Asia.

Here is one participant’s round up of the conference, published on Bekhsoos, a Queer Arab magazine.

I particularly like this bit:

Sexual health is about the well-being of every human being, not just the absence of disease. It involves safety, freedom from discrimination and violence, as well as respect. Much like health is a fundamental human right, sexual health must be a basic human right. Sexual health is an ongoing process that covers the entire life span, people of diverse sexualities and forms of sexual expression. It is influenced by gender norms and roles.

Tags: activism, international, power, sex, women