Breaking the silence: How Arab women are using online platforms to educate, empower, and challenge taboos around sexual and reproductive health

A few nights before her wedding, Dalia, 24, became overwhelmed by her thoughts and expectations. Her mother didn’t offer guidance, assuming that Dalia already knew. Only a married friend told her, “Don’t worry. He will manage”.

Alone with her husband, her body involuntarily rejected his approach. This happened repeatedly. She didn’t realise that she had a “vaginal spasm” until she went to the doctor just six days after the wedding.

“I had a colourful picture of sex life after marriage. But, in a real situation, things were not that easy. Ironically, I felt sorry for every woman forced to endure this severe pain called ‘sex,’” Dalia told The New Arab.

A year has passed, and Dalia already has her first child. But, for her, sex is still unenjoyable.

“I hear that sex is a release, a relief and all the good things. But why am I not feeling that? Why am I not satisfied? ” explained Dalia, who turned to the internet for answers.

Dalia is one of many Arab women who were unable to find reliable sources for real sexual education from a young age. As a result, some tolerate what should never be tolerated.

Sexual and reproductive revolution 

According to the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), young people in the MENA region become sexually active without being provided accurate information on their sexual and reproductive health. Also, embarrassment prevents parents from discussing sexuality with their children, which could push young people to rely on unreliable or inaccurate sources like the internet, online pornography, and friends.

However, many Arab women are challenging taboos by launching online platforms to help others understand their sexual needs and reproductive health. With videos, podcasts and credible medical content, they spark conversations, as for them, sexual knowledge is not a luxury, but a necessity.

Gynaecologist Yasmin Abo el Azm launched her platform Neswa Diaries in 2022 from a small village in the Dakahlia governorate in Egypt, after she found that a significant number of female patients who visited her didn’t know how to express their pain.

The Platform aims at raising awareness about female sexual health through videos that offer accurate medical information. Immediately, the page attracted followers from across the Arab region, including Tunis, Algeria, Iraq and other countries.

“Astonishingly, most women don’t know what it really looks like ‘down there’,” Yasmin told The New Arab.

“This may be because of their upbringing, the traditions and social pressure that forbid them from asking or trying to know about the intimate areas,” Yasmin added. 

In her first video, she explained the shape of the female organ and how it works, a topic many women have never had explained to them.

“I recorded the video with my face appearing. I was scared and anxious. I thought ‘People now will recognise me and they may judge’. But my mother told me, ‘You are doing well. Keep going!” Yasmin shared. 

As a gynaecologist, she believes that fighting stereotypes about women's bodies is her mission.

“Women ask me the same questions about the vaginal hymen, unpleasant discharges and masturbation,” she said.

“Young girls are still shy to ask their mothers about the problems they find in order not to get punished. Also, some mothers are shy to give clear and frank information,” she added. 

For Yasmin, women should redefine their bodies and understand their needs at every life stage.

“Some women feel afraid to have a medical check, whether in their adolescence, 20s or even in their premenopausal time. But, in each stage, they need to respect and understand their bodies to enjoy this stage without fear,” she told The New Arab.

'Knowledge is not dangerous'

From Alexandria, Bar Aman (Safe Haven), a platform launched in 2023, blends arts like psychodrama, storytelling, dance, drawing and theatre to help raise awareness among women about their intimate rights.

“We are intersectional feminists. We don’t see all women as one thing, because each one has her preferences and conditions, so we don’t work with one frame that fits all,” Mayar Mekky, the executive director of Bar Aman, told The New Arab.

For Bar Aman, sexual health is essential not just because it helps women to be satisfied and experience pleasure, but also because the lack of this knowledge may lead to unwanted early pregnancies, unsafe miscarriages and many health complications.

According to Mayar, the Arab content on the internet does not cover all issues related to sexual rights for women; however, the website of Bar Aman tries to offer reliable Arabic content, especially about the unexplained pains that women may experience in the pelvic area.

“Women usually face indifference when speaking about physical pain,” Mayar said, noting that some doctors ignore women’s complaints and give them pain relievers instead, which puts them in distress. To counter this, Bar Aman connects women with doctors who are aware of gender sensitivity.

The platform also launched a podcast called Haq Mashrout, which discusses topics like frigidity, precocious puberty, social stigma and other issues. One of the episodes discusses the sexual rights of women with disabilities and how society deprives them of their rights and controls their bodies.

"Women’s bodies are not a battlefield that is subjected to a patriarchal society. We try to use every tool we know to help women know their rights and never settle for less,” she explained.

Journalist and feminist researcher Esraa Saleh launched her independent podcast Salmon in 2022. The platform aims to support women who are like ‘salmon’, swimming against the social tide and challenging social norms. It is based in Egypt but covers the broader Southwest Asia and North Africa region.

“We chose an audio platform to give women greater privacy and security to express their feelings without revealing their identities,” Esraa, who is also a pharmacist, told The New Arab.

In two episodes, the podcast explored the social challenges unmarried women from Egypt and Morocco face when seeking gynaecological care, as some families reject these visits before marriage.

“Talking about women's health and rights is not a luxury; it is an essential step toward building a more just and equal society that promotes mental and physical health,” she said.

Registered in Abu Dhabi and operating across the MENA region, Nawat Health was officially launched in 2024 by public health professional and sex educator Noor Jaber.

The website offers sexual and reproductive advice with no judgment or shame — all the content goes through a rigorous review process, based on WHO guidelines and adapted to the regional context.

“As a woman from the region, working in public health and humanitarian settings, I witnessed how silence around women’s bodies and sexuality caused real emotional, physical, and social harm. I created Nawat to break that silence,” Noor said.

For Noor, expressing desire, whether emotional, physical, intellectual, or sexual, is an act of honesty and power.

“For too long, women in our region have been taught to suppress their questions, silence their needs, and carry shame that was never theirs. But desire is not shameful. Knowledge is not dangerous. When women are free to know, express and care for themselves, the entire society benefits,” Noor told The New Arab.

Youssra el-Sharkawy is an Egyptian feature writer and columnist, covering cultural issues, human rights, women's empowerment and social problems. Her work has appeared in various local and international news outlets

Follow her on X: @YoussraSharkawy