FEBRUARY 03 , 2009

let's talk about sex, students say

by deema amerah (BU'09)

More than 90 per cent of Bethlehem University students polled in a recent campus survey want to know more about sex and the university is responding with its first workshop series around sex education this month.

The 40-hour pilot project will be attended by 24 students from four different faculties and will run on weekends, beginning on Valentine’s Day, February 14th. 

Dr. Hala Al-Yamani, one of the faculty involved in conducting the survey – which asked the views of 342 students from various years and faculties of study – will conduct the workshops alongside Ms. Safa’ Tamish, president of Muntada, the Arab Forum for Sexuality, Education and Health. 

Dr. Hala Al-Yamani, Ms. Mary Sabella, Brother Peter Iorlano and Dr. Inge Tiemann first told students and educators at a conference on November 27th that the questionnaire they’d distributed noted that 92.1 per cent of students said sexual education is important and 92.8 said they’d attend discussions on topics around sexual education.

 “We need a course in the university which freely tackles this kind of education,” said Haneen Abu Teer, a student who attended the conference. “This is nothing to be ashamed of; on the contrary, it is essential.”

More than 70 students and staff met in Furno Hall to watch and discuss the seminar on the history of Sex Education in Palestine and the results of the BU Survey on Sex Education.

The conference began with a presentation by Ms. Tamish. She spoke about Muntada's attempts to empower Palestinians and professionally meet their individual and collective needs for sexual health and sexuality education on a foundation of gender equality and individual and collective freedom, as well as community involvement and partnership on many levels: family, school, and society at large.

Ms. Tamish spoke about tackling sexual issues in Palestinian society, many of which stem from a lack of sexual education and awareness. She remarked that "sexual education is not a taboo subject any more; it is part of human nature, so it must be tackled professionally without any shame in society."

She continued by saying that Palestinians must challenge the erroneous popular conceptions that denigrate women and, as a result, encourage psychological and sexual violence against them. In order to achieve that, she said, we must establish sexual health centers that deal with sexuality as well as counseling facilities for various age groups.

Later, Dr. Hala Al-Yamani presented a detailed lecture about the results from a  seminar in early 2008. Her presentation reflected the results of the questionnaire. It was noted that 39.8 per cent of students said they want topics in the university curriculum which reflect sexual education freely and discuss it without any shame, while 60 per cent said they don't need it.

However, 92.1 per cent of the students surveyed agreed that sexual education is essential.  Only 7.2 per cent said they wouldn’t attend classes on topics related to sexual education. 

Dr. Hala said "we hope one day we can successfully establish a course in the university to raise sexual education awareness, which many students desperately need to discuss because sexuality is part of their bodies which God has created. So it is part of the education we must not ignore."

Ms. Mary added: “Many students come to ask me about sexuality, which is a subject they until now have no clue about. We have to contribute to the sexual health among students by enhancing appropriate schools' programs and sessions, and to freely discuss the topics that concern them. Thus we can internalize the awareness and avoid any false sexual thoughts or behaviors; especially with this new globalization.”