The sexual stigma in Lebanon is very much contradicted by the increasing amount of visitors to Marsa Sexual Health Center, in Beirut. Yes, the people of Lebanon are definitely having sex. But the knowledge of sexual health is not as widely spread as the humping act itself.
“People actually have sex. Now we need to facilitate their needs regarding sexual health. The government has to see this," said Diana Abou Awas, manager of Marsa Sexual Health Center, while pointing out that Marsa does not encourage people to have sex, but rather safe sex.
The sexual taboo is thriving in Lebanon, along with a liberal sexual activities going on behind closed doors. Awas said that it is very common to have sex before marriage but the stigma prohibits people from openly discussing it. This is a problem because there is much to be said on topic of sex. However, the silence and the lack of sexual education in schools results in many people missing the essential knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases and contraception.
Awas said that young people often refer to stereotypes when it comes to healthy sex. For example, if a guy looks decent, comes from a good family or has a well paid job, the girl won’t think about the possibility that he might have an STD. Lebanese teenagers tend to think that STDs are more common among criminals, lower class and immigrants than in their own homogeneous social group.
“We need to educate people on stereotypes. So many teenagers don’t realize that STDs are everywhere and anyone can have it,” Awas said.
Anyone who walks into Marsa can get medical help, counseling and contraception either for free or at a subsidized prize. Also, clients don’t have to give out their identity. So it seems perfectly safe but for various reasons people shy away from the sexual health center, especially women.
“I honestly don’t know why so few women come here. Maybe they are not aware of why they should see a doctor or seek professional help,” Awas said.
Instead of turning to professionals for guidance, many people resort to methods such as withdrawing the penis right before ejaculation. Dr Faysal el Kak, at American University of Beirut, explained that the withdrawal method has a high failure rate because many times men fail to withdraw on time and other times a pre-ejaculation might escape and the woman winds up getting pregnant.
Dr el Kak said all of the papers that were published on the subject, the journal of contraception in 2002 showed that withdrawal is still a preferred method in Lebanon.
For all these reasons, Marsa aims to educate the Lebanese on every aspect of sex. For this reason, Marsa has launched several sex awareness campaigns. By next month, they hope to hold one in the universities in Beirut, where they will talk to people face to face, hoping to tear down the wall.
“To break the stigma we need to talk about sex. That is the most important thing,” Awas said.
