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Will Egypt’s schools break sex education taboo?

Egyptian NGOs launch a series of campaigns to combat violence against women by including sex education in school curricula.
Students line up on the first day of their new school year at a government school in Giza, south of Cairo September 22, 2013. Students resumed their studies at the beginning of the new academic year this weekend amid parental concerns of a possible lack of security after the summer vacation ends. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany  (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS EDUCATION) - RTX13UIT
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CAIRO — On the first day of the UN Women’s annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence campaign that began Nov. 25, a school-based sex education effort titled “Sexual education: a need, not a luxury” was launched to serve as an introduction to address violence against women in particular, in light of the misconceptions in Egyptian society where sex education is equated with teaching young men to have sex.

Some obstacles may hinder the campaign, however, such as Egyptian laws that do not provide real guarantees for comprehensive sex education or the lack of adequate information on the subject, according to a report issued by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights in January 2013.

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