|  Sexuality
and gender equality, matters that are inextricably
linked, have been highly politicized issues
in almost all Muslim countries. Although a
general consensus on the need for modernization
efforts in the technical, administrative and
financial domains has been remarkably visible
even, reforms targeting gender relations and
the private sphere have remained notably controversial. While
the modernists have in general argued for
gender equality and, to a degree, for sexual
liberation, the traditionalists / Islamic
conservatives have subsequently and deliberately
attempted to exert their control on issues
related to sexuality, struggling to preserve
their interpretation of their respective society’s
"religious and moral values". Read
full article.
By Pinar Ilkkaracan
|
Undocumented
'Urfi marriages are increasingly
popular among Egyptian youth. The high cost
of marriage forces many young couples to wait
several years before they marry. Also, because
conservative Egyptian society forbids sex
before marriage, many young people consider
the 'Urfi marriage a solution. The 'Urfi marriage
can be disastrous for a woman because in the
event of a divorce, she has no legal recourse
to get alimony or child support from her former
husband. 
While
sub-Saharan Africa has been the region hit
hardest by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the differential
rates of infection observed have been poorly
understood. Adult prevalence rates of HIV
range from 0.8% in Senegal to 38.8% in Swaziland.
Rates have been consistently higher in Eastern
and Southern Africa, as compared to West Africa,
but there is still great diversity within
this sub-region as well. Not only are biological
factors, such as male circumcision and the
presence of sexually transmitted infections,
given as possible reasons for these differences,
but various social and cultural factors have
also been postulated. Religion may well be
one of these factors. 