Sexuality in the Middle East and North Africa: Contemporary Issues and Challenges

Issues of sexuality in the Middle East and North Africa have served as a lightning rod for international discussions surrounding the treatment of those who identify as LGBTQ+, sexual and reproductive health, and the prevention of sexual violence. While a growing body of scholarship and internal advocacy groups have brought more open dialogue within and about the MENA region, this volume builds on the small but growing literature on sexuality in the Middle East and North Africa by providing critical insights and academic analysis into a broad range of complex and controversial issues.

Spanning a wide array of countries from Algeria to Yemen, Egypt, Iran, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, this volume offers a comprehensive regional analysis that transcends the limitations of country-specific studies. Three themes guide the volume’s organization: sexual politics, rights, and movements; gender and sexual minorities; and sexual health, identity, and well-being. Drawing on contemporary scholarship and ethnographic fieldwork, the contributors shed light on howsexuality is a foundational element of national and regional discourses, acts as a political tool for marking difference, and has the possibility to enlighten, restrict, liberate, or oppress the millions of individuals living in the region. This volume is essential reading for scholars, policymakers, and anyone interested in the intersection of sexuality, identity, and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa.

J. Michael Ryan is professor-researcher at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Dr. Ryan has edited more than sixteen volumes, including Gender in the Middle East and North Africa with Helen Rizzo.

Helen Rizzo is an associate professor of sociology at the American University in Cairo. She is the author of Islam, Democracy and the Status of Women: The Case of Kuwait and coeditor of Gender in the Middle East and North Africa.