Muhammed who, after the death of his first wife, agreed, at the urging of his followers, to marry a young prepubertal girl (many argued that the age was 7), Ayesha. "Most Islamic authorities believe the marriage was not consummated until she menstruated, the traditionally acceptable time for marriage", writes Bullough (1973)[3]. This age of consummation was commonly assumed to be nine[4], as reported by Bullough (1976:p208[5]; cf. Moztki, p492, 493). The Aisha case could be used as an argument by judges (e.g., Antoun, 1980:p465)[6]. Islamic marriage, as it is literally synonymous with coition, normally took place at age 12 or 13, and the Koran prohibits premenarchal consummation (Bullough, 1976:p214). This sensitises some contemporary authorities when, in a pamphlet dedicated to Allah, stating that "[s]exual desire is aroused in human being at the age of puberty", which would be "fifteen lunar years for boys and nine for girls" (Rizvi, undated:p59, 60)[7].

Motzki (1985)[8] states that in central Arabia around the 7th and 8th century A.D. ejarcularche (13, 14y) and menarche (13) primarily signified legal, political and social caesura, the minimal ages would have been nine and twelve (ten), respectively. "So hieß es auch, daß neun Jahre das Alter sei, von dem an das Mädchen Begierden wecken, und zehn Jahre der Zeitpunkt, von dem an der Junge Begierden habe könne und man ging gewöhnlich davon aus, daß sie dann auch zum Koitus fähig sein könnten, selbst wenn die Geschlechtsreife später einträte" (p494). The physical transition is intimately connected to the sexual sphere, being a prerequisite for marriage, which was legal only through consummation. Premenarchal marriage "appears to have been among the possibilities, insofar she was physically able for coitus" (p492, 522).

Sexual Climate: General Remarks [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Francoeur (1990:p101-3)[9] provided a baseline sketch of Islamic sexuality. Another baseline:

"In many Islamic countries boys and girls are segregated in schools, except at the university level, and even university segregation occurs in some areas. Dating is forbidden and risky, although it is practised secretly beyond the watchful eyes of families and friends. It is not uncommon for couples to delay courtship until they are actually married and the wife has moved to her new domicile. Premarital pregnancy or loss of chastity is regarded as a calamity with very serious consequences to those involved and their families"[10].

Edwardes and Masters (1961)[11] work is monumental for the study of the development of sexual behaviour in the East. Their narrative however, seems hyperbolic. For instance, they write that "in the East there are but a handful of females who do not have their vaginas penetrated at least once by the male penis before the age of puberty" (p121). According to Edwardes (1967b/1969)[12], masturbation is very common among the Arabs and Jews from the cradle. This would oppose orthodox rulings, though[13]. DeMause (1991)[14] seems to agree. The seductive climate would have to lead to Paradoxia:

"Sex for boys in the Middle East is said to begin in infancy and continue throughout childhood. Parents and others masturbate the infant's penis in order "to increase its size and strengthen it", and older siblings have been observed playing with the genitals of babies for hours at a time.[[15]] As the boy gets older, mutual masturbation, fellatio and anal intercourse are said to be common among children, particularly with the older boys using the younger children as sex objects as a reaction to the over stimulation of the family bed".

According to DeMause, girls would be subjected to a downpour of incestuous assault along the age gradient. DeMause later[16] draws a parallel between "Islamic terrorism"and sexual socialisation, stating terrorists are "products of a misogynist fundamentalist system".

Sexual education in Islamic Middle East slowly gained weight in the seventies, although met with considerable hesitation (e.g., Minai, 1981:p133-8)[17].

Hammam as Cradle of Sexual Culture [cf. Volume II, chapter 16] [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

The role of sex in the traditional bath house is widely discussed. North African boys are banned from the women's Hammam at the date of sexual coming-of-age (Buitelaar and Van Gelder, 1996:p145-6)[18]. Later, the smouldering memories of naked females would eroticise the institution (cf. Drew, 1997)[19]. According to Serhane ([1995:p169-77])[20] the Hammam is remembered as a revolution in male sexual development, a transition nicely illustrated in the film Halfaouine[21]. In his Dreams of Trespass, Mernissi (1994)[22] describes her cousin's expulsion from the women's hammam, which seemed to have resulted from a similar gaze as that of Noura (Halfaouine): "Then came the day that Samir was thrown out of the hammam because a woman noticed that he had "a man's stare" […] "He might be four, but I am telling you, he looked at my breast just like my husband does"[[23]]. […] [T]hat […] incident signalled, without Samir [the cousin] and I realizing it, the end of childhood, when the difference between the sexes did not matter. After that Samir was less and less tolerated in the woman's hammam, as his "erotic stare" began to disturb more and more women" (p239-42). Mernissi was told:

"Men do not understand women […] and women do understand men, and it all starts when little girls are separated from little boys in the hammam. Then a cosmic frontier splits the planet in two halves. The frontier indicates the line of power because whenever there is a frontier, there are two kinds of creatures walking on Allah's earth, the powerful on one side, and the powerless on the other" (p242).

Other authors mention the hammam is a forbidden place after the stigma of circumcision that announces the bankruptcy of the boy's "asexual" status. According to Bouhdiba (1985)[24]: "The hammam [...] is a highly eroticized place - so much so indeed that the name has come to signify for the masses the sexual act itself [...] "going to the hammam" quite simply means "making love" […] . Every Muslim can relive his childhood in terms of his experience of the hammam […] notoriously a place of homosexuality, male and female […] there the child has all the time in the world to contemplate, examine and compare sexual organs [so that] every Muslim is fixated on his mother [...]". Bouhdiba even speaks of a Hammam-complex. As judged from Messina (1991:p201-2)[25], the Moroccan boy may remember to be expelled from the Hammam at variable ages, ranging from three or four, eight to as late as ten.

Serhane (1995) provided a detailed analysis of Moroccan sexual development. Masturbation is regarded as deviant. Allegedly, homosexual abuse, although counteracted by Islam, is frequent and may constitute the child's first sexual experience (p45-6, 159). Both homosexuality and zooerastic contacts are interpreted as directly associated with the repression of sexuality, and the separation of the sexes.

The Other Cradle: "Genital Parenting"[26] [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

In the Middle-Ages, the Jews would not have appreciated hearing their children laugh in their bedrooms, for they believed that in such cases the Lilith would be playing with their genitalia (Patai, 1967:p224)[27].

A negative association with this belief would contrast the case of genital reference in infancy found in the literature for Middle to Near East. Miner (1960)[28]: "The genitals of a baby are stroked by its brothers and sisters to amuse and please it". An Egyptian mother would play with boy's genitals (Ammar, 1954:p105)[29]. The Kazak rub and play with boy's genitals, and allow masturbation (Ford and Beach, 1951:p188)[30]. In Pakistan, Pandjgur women may stroke the genitalia of their little sons, but only when their husbands, brothers or any other man is absent (Pastner, 1984:p224ff)[31]. Among the Turks, infants' "penises were kissed and stroked […] grandparents and parents fondled their genitals and repeated: "You are male, you are male" " (Delaney, 1991:p78-9)[32]. Blowing on the penis is done to encourage urination. Female genitals and masturbation are ignored. Olsen (1981:p108)[33] saw her daughter's "sugar box" "kissed lovingly" by a Turkish maid/nurse and was urged to do the same "as a part of appropriate "mothering" ". Olson-Prather (1976:p278)[34] noted that a teenage neighbour girl of the elite class expressed verbal but not physical admiration. Bilge, another American researcher told Olson[35] that this was common among recent and earlier Turkish immigrants near Detroit, Michigan. Helling (1960:p87-8)[36] described that old women may snatch at the penises of little boys as they run by in the nude, threatening to cut them off, but also in apparent celebration of his incipient virility. Edwardes and Masters (1961:p240, 249-52, 264)[37] provide a functional interpretation: "[The] constant forcible retraction has for centuries been customary among the Islamic people of Central Asia (e.g., the Turkomans, Kurds, Uzbeks, Kazak-Kirghiz, etc.), who methodologically masturbate their sons from early infancy in order to expose the glans penis, dilate the preputial orifice, and stimulate growth and development. Rubbed erect, the infant's penis is clasped directly under the corona by the parent's fingers; then the foreskin is jerked fully down again and again, stretching the frenulum and uncovering the crown. All the members of the family, young and old alike, take turns performing this denudation of the glans on the new baby for at least an hour every evening". The Jews, however, would not have the argument of preputial conditioning, because of the neonatal circumcision: "They do it merely because it is super-exciting to the suckling; the exposed glans is therefore rarely if ever touched or rubbed by the fingers".

Messina (1991:p165-6)[38]: "Another "flaw", Suad regards as peculiarly Farsi, is the affectionate genital contact some women extend when they greet or communicate with an infant. It is not entirely uncommon to see women- mother's, aunts, sisters or maids- touch the child's genitals with their hand, then kiss those same fingers, back and forth, a few brief times with much the spontaneity as the American gesture of gently pinching an infant's chin (I am told that fathers do this as well, but personally I have only witnessed women doing so. I know of one instance with a female infant and several with males)". Kasriel (1990:p120)[39] also refers to Moroccan maternal mockeries.

Mernissi ([1985:p162])[40]:

"[The boy's] penis, htewta ("little penis"), is the object of a veritable cult on the part of the women rearing him. Little sisters, aunts, maids, and mothers often attract the little boy's attention to his htewta and try to teach him to pronounce the word, which is quite a task given the gutteral initial letter h. Oe of the common games played by adult females with a male child is to get him to understand the connection between sidi (master) and the htwta. Hada sidhum ("This is their master"), say the women, pointing to the child's penis. The kissing of the child's penis is a normal gesture for a female relative who has not seen him since his birth. Tbarkallah 'ala-r-Rajal ("God protect the man"), she may whisper. The child's phallic pride is enhanced systematically, beginning in the first year of life".

Boy-Love, Boy Prostitution, with a Specific Reference to Age (®Indonesia, ®Asia) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

The Mamlukes (ruling medieval Egypt) indulged in pederasty with boys from the Central Asian steppes (Murray; Greenberg)[41]. In medieval Southwestern Asia, the Mamluk[e]s of the sultanate governments were forbidden to have sex with females but commonly had boys as sexual partners. The adult Mamluk would educate his boy apprentice (cf. Hardman, 1990; Williams, 1998, 2000)[42].

Persia for centuries was especially renowned for its boy-brothels. Until the later half of the 20th century, it was "still an easy matter to find child prostitutes in the Middle and Far East" (Benjamin and Masters, 1964:p162[43]; cf. Greenberg, 1988:p172-82)[44]; this parallels the gone-by scene in Morocco (Rouadjia, 1991; etc.)[45]. DeMause (1991)[46] seems to avoid the issue of age in Middle-Eastern boy-love. Love of boys, as judged from Medieval and later Muslim and Hebrew verse (Roth, 1982, 1984, 1989, 1991, 1994; etc.)[47] was informed by classic "Greek" aesthetics: the boy must not grow a beard, but should be pubescent. Sources suggest this would have been the case even in the first century BC. (e.g., Haas, 1999:p115)[48]. Schild (1985:p101)[49] relates that a special word for "beard poems" exists (mu'adhar). In his Book on the Etiquette of Marriage, Al-Ghazāzī's mere reference to homosexuality is that it is shameful for a man to look at the face of the beardless boy when it may result in evil[50]. In "The Upbringing of Children in Islam"[51], the author details a specific argument against looking at boys:

"In the normal activities of life like buying and selling, treatment and training, one may look at a young boy of about fourteen years who has not yet grown his beard. However, it is unlawful to look at him to enjoy his beauty. It may arouse sensuality. ¶Hazrat ¶Hasan bin Zakwªan never allowed anyone to sit with such a boy. ¶Hazrat Sufyªan Thauri may Allah have mercy on him says, "There is one devil with every woman but there are seventeen devils with a young boy". Imam A¶hmad may Allah have mercy on him did not allow one to move about with such a boy. ¶Hazrat ibn Musaib may Allah have mercy on him said, "Be vigilant of the one who moves about with young boys." [note: unaltered from online ed.]

Others agree that "Some religious scholars have also forbidden looking at beardless handsome boys in the same way as is the case with women whom one is not allowed to see"[52]. The Cur'an supplies such unambiguous phrases as "And there shall wait on them [the Muslim men] young boys of their own, as fair as virgin pearls" (SURA LII:24) and "They shall be attended by boys graced with eternal youth, who will seem like scattered pearls to the beholders" (SURA LXXVI:19)[53]. There is a hadith in Bukhari, admittedly providing not the Prophet's opinion but that of Abu Jafar, which advocates the prohibition of marrying the mother of boys if the latter be penetrated:

"feeman yal'abu bis-sabiyy: in 'adkhalahu feehi falaa yatazawwajanna 'ummahu" [As for whom(ever) plays with a boy: if he caused him to enter him, then he shall not marry his mother; Bukhari LXII, 25)".

One of the great male Sufi contemporaries of Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya provided a divine justification for a pederastic relationship, as repeated without a hint of disapproval in a 10th century book about great Sufi women:

"One day Rabi'a saw Rabah [al-Qaysi] kissing a young boy [huwa yuqabbil sabiyyan]. 'Do you love him?' she asked. 'Yes', he said. To which she replied, 'I did not imagine that there was room in your heart to love anything other than God, the Glorious and Mighty!' Rabah was overcome at this and fainted. When he awoke, he said, 'On the contrary, this is a mercy that God Most High has put into the hearts of his slaves'[54].

In early modern Ottoman society, as in other Mediterranean and Near Eastern societies, "sexual congress between adult males and young boys was not construed as "homosexual" or aberrant; what was deemed problematic was homoeroticism among adult males" (Pierce, 1997:p175)[55]. In medieval Islamic societies, "sexuality was defined according to the domination by or reception of the penis in the sex act; moreover, one's position in the social hierarchy also localized her or him in a predetermined sexual role". Hence, boys, "being not yet men, could be penetrated without losing their potential manliness"[56]. As Dunne[57] continues, "[s]ex with boys or male prostitutes made men "sinners", but did not undermine their public position as men or threaten the important social values of female virginity or family honor".

According to Burton[58], the love of boys was "popular and endemic" within the "Sotadic Zone", roughly covering the Mediterranean shores (France, Italy, Greece, North-coastal Africa), Middle and Far East, the South Sea Islands, southern native America and the Middle Americas. An interesting collection of historical data is provided by Drake (1966/1992)[59]. Boy prostitution is said to have been common (Drew and Drake, 1969:p71-96)[60]. In Turkey homosexual acts with boys over 12 were legal in many areas. Shiraz (Iran) was described as a hotbed of vice where dancing boys are greeted with rapturous applause[61]. In the European provinces of the Ottoman Empire, a "child tax" was institutionalised to recruit handsome and talented boys for the Emperor's service.

Cline (1936:p43)[62] observed that "all normal Siwan men and boys practice sodomy". The boys are catamites (according to Cline there were no boy marriages, but this was suggested by other authors), aged 12 to 18, and are exchanged between the men. 59 out of 60 would have been catamites themselves when young[63]. The issue was reviewed by Murray (1997:p37-41; cf. Adam[64]).

Bombay anthropologist Gopal (1969:p167)[65] stated that North Indian and Afghanistan males, known for their extraordinary libido, "almost always prefer smaller boys". In Afghanistan, where women, at least until very recently, wore Burkas, men who have homosexual relations do not consider themselves homosexual, at least not in the Western sense. "I like boys, but I like girls better", one man argues, "It's just that we can't see the women to see if they are beautiful. But we can see the boys, and so we can tell which of them is beautiful"[66].

[Additional refs.: Dunne, B. W. (1990) Homosexuality in the Middle East: An Agenda for Historical Research, Arab Studies Quart 12,3-4:55-82; Dale, S. F. (1990) Steppe Humanism: The Autobiographical Writings of Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur, 1483-1530, Int J Middle East Studies 22,1:37-58]

Bačas [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Boys in Central Asia, called batshas, would be trained from childhood on in erotic songs and dances[67]. Baldauf (1988; 1990)[68] wrote on Uzbek (Northern Afghanistan) love of boys known as Bačabozlik[69]. The Bača was pubertal (11-18), optimally 12 to 16 years old. Jazayery[70] (p198n1) assumes that the terms bachchihbâz and bachchihbâzî (Persian, homosexual, homosexuality) imply the other "partner" to be "a child (bachchih), or very young boy". Specifically, however, "[e]ines Knaben vor einsetzen der Pubertät zum Bača zu nehmen gilt als Sünde (guno) […]" (B., 1990:p13). The end of the Bača coincides with barbarche (the sprouting of facial hair). This custom may go forth on 19th century Afghanistan's boy harems (Patai, 1960:p156)[71]. In ®Albania, likewise, boys were loved from age 12 upward: "Die Knaben […] werden von zwölften Jahre an geliebt, und mit den 16. oder 17. Verlassen (Von Hahn, 1853:p166-8)"[72]. Burton (1885): "Of Turkistan we know little, but what we know confirms my statement. Mr. Schuyler in his Turkistan (i. 132)[[73]] offers an illustration of a 'Batchah' (Pers. bachcheh = catamite), or singing-boy surrounded by his admirers". He further notes that "The Afghans are commercial travellers on a large scale and each caravan is accompanied by a number of boys and lads almost in woman's attire with kohl'd eyes and rouged cheeks, long tresses and henna'd fingers and toes, riding luxuriously in Kajawas or camel-panniers: they are called Kuch-i safari, or travelling wives, and the husbands trudge patiently by their sides".

Brongersma's (1987:p105-7)[74] informants speak of illegal boy (and girl) marriages in Albania, in which fellatio is practised "until full maturity".

For further references to "Islamic" age-stratified homosexuality, see the exhaustive collection by Murray and Roscoe[75].

Early Betrothal / Marriage: Islamic Regulations and Practice [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

In the ancient world, Jewish law seemed to require an act of intercourse for a betrothal to be recognised. The Mishnah said: "A girl three years old and one day may be betrothed by intercourse […]" (Mishnah, Nid. V. 4; Danby, 1933:p750[76]; Duncan and Derrett, 1974:p26)[77]. Maimonides (A. D. 1180) states: "If she is three years and one day old she may be betrothed by an act of intercourse, with the consent of her father. If she is less than that, and her father has her betrothed by an act of intercourse, she is not betrothed" ([1972:p18][78]). Edwardes (1967a:p168)[79]: "The early-marriage tradition of Israel found acceptance in Christendom, whose precocious children bedded and wedded at or even before puberty; but that Talmudic mishnâh stating "A girl of the age of three years and a day may be betrothed by sexual intercourse" inspired not a few Talmud-burnings and local pogroms". This rule "grew out of an old Semitic tradition and cannot be dismissed as myth, nor is it simply a Talmudic academic exercise", according to Rush (1980:p17-9)[80]. In actuality, Duncan and Derrett (ibid.) argue, 'Érūsîn (betrothal) was effected by a payment. At the time of St. Paul, girls were married at puberty or a little before.

The Cur'an indicates maturity rather than a specific age limit for marriageability. Although the Talmud recommended that a daughter be given in marriage when na'rah, between the ages of twelve and twelve and a half, a father could marry her off well before that time. A boy reached his majority at age 13 and was then eligible to negotiate his own affairs. According to classical Islamic law marriage of minors is permitted "provided it was contracted on their behalf by parents or, in the absence of parents, by other suitable guardians, and provided that the minor, on attaining puberty, could renounce it before consummation of the marriage" (Rahman, 1980:p455)[81]. Patai (1962:p100-5)[82] observed that, for a number of reasons, early marriage is an age-old Middle Eastern tradition, girls being socialised for marriage at ages 4 and 5 (cf., El Masry, 1962)[83].

Age-stratified marriage was found to be practised by the Jews, Arabs, Persians, and Indiens (Englisch, 1932:p31)[84]. Apparently 40% of Muslim marriages around 17th century Palestine (1585-1670), at least in the region of Ramla, involved "children" under the age of 15 (Motzki, 1987)[85]. Child engagement was not uncommon in sixteenth-century Anatolia (Pierce, 1997:p173). "Both pubescent boys and pubescent girl […] might be "carnally desirable" […], and thus the potential object of the desire of adult males". This would be at least at age 12, and if puberty appeared delayed, 17 for girls and 18 for boys. 16th century Jewish history reveals a prevalence of girl "child" marriage, many of whom were between 12 and 14 years of age (Lamdan, 1996)[86]. The early marriage age may be attributed to several factors: an attempt to prevent the temptation of sexual relations before marriage; the effort to arrange the best possible match both socially and economically; the insecurity of diaspora Jews during the age of expulsions from Spain and Ottoman expansion, moving them to establish ties that would assure the children's financial future; and the desire to raise a new generation of Jews as quickly as possible to assure the continuity of their people.

"Child" marriage was prohibited in Egypt in 1923, in Jordan (1951), Syria (1953), Morocco (1958), Iraq (1959), and further[87]. In the case of Egypt, however, some girls may still have been married prethelarchically[88]. Today, "[c]hild marriage, at least in its more extreme forms, has been restricted in a number of Muslim countries, whether by criminal sanction or by procedural device forbidding the courts to entertain any disputed matrimonial cause in respect of an unregistrated marriage, and forbidding marriage registrars to register a contract in which the parties have not reached specified ages" (Anderson, 1971:p24)[89]. "Among both Turks and Arabs, the young unmarried girl is "loved" by her older brothers and father, but as she reaches puberty they are faced with a state they cannot "control", that is, their daughter's or sister's sexuality [[90]]. The girl must therefore be married, and among both rural peoples, marriage normally occurs promptly after the onset of puberty[91]" (Meeker, 1976:p390)[92]; betrothal among the Arabs could be effected before birth (Meeker, p416; Granqvist, p146). In pre-WO II South Arabia, "[t]he child is never consulted, at least on the first marriage, about her views on the spouse. In any case she is but a child. Early marriages in both sexes are usual, and incidences where one party or the other has not reached the age of puberty are not rare, but that is no hindrance to marital relations"[93]. 1960s' Beirut prostitutes had had their first sexual experiences at 12-13 in 41.5% (5.4 before age 12), with half of all respondents reporting this occurred with their husbands, a fact indicative of early marriage (Khalaf, 1965:p33-5)[94]. Marriage at age 13 was common in Oman (Wikan, 1982:p60-1)[95] and in Yemen (Dorsky, 1981:p99)[96]. In Albania, betrothal in early childhood was probably customary from the late 17th century till at least the early twentieth (Durham, 1908:p458-9)[97].

Early marriage for both men and women was a common practice in Iran.

Stirling (1965)[98] could not add to data provided by Yasa (1957:p105-6)[99] who reported cases of child marriage in Turkey, involving no more than the transferring of a child to its future spouse's household: "Formal childhood betrothal appears to be unknown".

Further refs.: Peppelenbosch, P. & Teune, E. (1976 [1971]) De Wereld der Arabieren. 2^nd rev ed. Bussum [Holland]: Romen, p108-11 [Dutch]

Current Age of Consent [100] [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

For details, one is to consult ECPAT[101] and ILGA[102]. Graupner (2000)[103] lists the age of consent for Turkey (1858): 15/18 (vaginal and anal intercourse). ECPAT (Oct., 2002) offers data on AoC laws for the following countries: Iran (extramar.)[104], Iraq (extramar.)[105], Jordan (15)[106], Kuwait ([15])[107], Lebanon (15)[108], and Oman ([15]?)[109].

In Morocco, no sexual activity is allowed with a child until his fifteenth birthday (Art. 484, Penal Code). In Algeria, the age of consent is 16(Law no. 82-04 [13.02.1982] Art. 334); in Rwanda, and in Uganda, it is 18; in Tonga, it is 16. In Tunisia, the age of consent was fixed at20 years for both sexes. Consent is invalid if the "victim" is below age 13 (Art. 227, penal code). If the victim is more than 13 years and less than 15 years, the author will be punished by 6 years of prison (Art. 227a). If the victim is above 15 years and less than 20 years, it will be punished by 5 years of prison. In Egypt, "[a]ny person who rapes a boy or a girl minor, not yet full eighteen (18) years old, without using violence or threat, is to be punished by imprisonment. 2. If the victim is under full seven years or if the offender is one of those involved in the second paragraph of the article 267, punishment of penal servitude for a certain period of time is to be inflicted" (Art. 267, Penal Code)[110]. Albania's current regulations on 'Unlawful sexual intercourse with Minors', (Art.100, Penal Code) states that "[c]ommitting unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl, under the age of fourteen (14) or having not reached the age of puberty, is punished by imprisonment term varying from five (5) to fifteen (15) years"[111]. In Armenia (Art. 114, Penal Code), sexual acts are forbidden under the age of 16, or before puberty. In the Azerbaijan Republic, article 111 of the Criminal Code specifies criminal responsibility for sexual relations with a person aged under sixteen. Sexual intercourse with a person aged below sixteen years shall be punished with imprisonment for up to 3 years. The same actions committed in a perverted way or with a view of satisfaction of sexual passion shall be punished with imprisonment for up to 5 years according to article 112[112]. In Lebanon, the age of consent in 15 (Art. 5, Penal Code). The age of Consent in Iraq is said to be 14 for females, and 17 for males. In Iran, it would be 18, although it had been lowered to 15 "(or 13, in some accounts)" by the 1979 constitution[113]. In Israel, it is 16. In Oman,sexual activities or acts are not allowed, except in Legal Marriage, for which no legal age exists. In Syria, the Civil code (Order in Council No. 59 of 1953 and its amendments) defined in its article 18 the age of maturity (sexual activity): 15 years for the boy and 13 years for the girl. In Turkey,crimes against public decency and family order include "removing the virginity of a girl who has completed fifteen years of age, with a promise of marriage" (Art. 423, Criminal Code). In Pakistan, No age limit has been fixed for consenting to a sexual activity. However, for the punishment of "Zina" (sexual intercourse without being validly married to each other) liable to "Hadd", the person committing the offence should be adult/major (Section 5 of the offence of Zina, Enforcement of Hudood Ordinance, 1979)[114].

Sexual Upbringing: General and Historical Points [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

In a recent study[115], sex instruction manuals written in central Europe in the nineteenth century Palestine and Israel in the twentieth century form the basis for broader discussions on religious and scientific discourse on child and adolescent sexuality within the Jewish communities. By tracing the development of forms of expert knowledge, the authors show how expert discourse on masturbation gradually transformed it from a symbolic moral evil into a medical disease and a psychological problem, before declaring it a legitimised behaviour. Epstein[116], however, is remarkably silent about preadulthood.

According to Couchard (1987)[117], the "phallic", all-powerful mother plays a chief role in her daughters' sex education, as dictated by Moslem [muslim] custom and by her "societal superego". Maternal discourse shapes a daughter's phantasms of external realities and the male world. The reputation of a Moslem clan depends on the modesty and virginity rate of its female members. Threats, pleas, and magical secrets imposed on or offered to the girls by their mothers are all variations on themes such as menstruation and loss of virginity. The life of women is characterised by continual psychic pressure from birth, a subordinate social position, virginity requirements for marriage (which often takes place before first menstruation), and pregnancies soon after marriage, with a likelihood of childbirth injury and subsequent sterility[118].

The Upbringing of Children in Islam [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Halstead (1997)[119] explores Muslim concepts of sex education on the occasion of "recent calls by Muslim leaders in Britain for Muslim parents to withdraw theft children from sex education classes". Most importantly, "What underlies Muslim objections to contemporary practice in sex education is that it is based on a humanistic interpretation of the needs and will of the individual rather than on religious foundations [while f]or Muslims, an understanding of sexuality--and indeed all areas of life--should begin "not with internal demands felt by the individual, but with the will of God". Thus, "It is the erosion of religious values in sex education in state schools in the West which many Muslims find unacceptable. They fear that Muslim children are not merely picking up information about practices which deviate from Islamic norms, they are being presented with a vision of life from which religion is excluded or at least relegated to the status of a variable". More practically, full nudity videos offended decency concepts.

Van Gelder (1993:p36-40)[120] briefly sketches the role of Islam in the formation of sexual behaviour patterns in Moroccan men. Children of opposite sex can sleep in single rooms, given the idea that, according to an informant, "they don't understand a thing yet" of sex; thereafter the child is socialised in Islamic teachings. In an Arabic book entitled "The Upbringing of Children in Islam"[121], very specific codes are detailed concerning the behaviour of children.

"A child must not be allowed near anything that is liable to incite him sexually and thus mar his character. The period just before attaining maturity is the most sensitive time in the life of a person. Children of this age must not be allowed near women. At this age, they tend to differentiate between beauty and ugliness and sensual feelings grow in them. At ten years, their beds must be separated.Once, when he was about the age of maturity, ̉Hazrat Fazal glanced at a woman, the Holy Prophet may blessings of Allah and peace be on him physically turned his face the other way.̉Hazrat Abbªas enquired of the Prophet the reason for doing this. He said, "I saw a young man looking towards a young woman and feared they would succumb to base desire".A guardian has a twofold responsibility in this regard.

To keep his ward away from sexually inciting things. When he is old enough, do not let him enter the house without permission at times of rest and sleep. If he sees his parents in an intimate position, he might feel sexually aflame. When he attains the age of nine, do not let him meet women who are strangers. When he is ten years old, do not let him sleep with his brothers and sisters. When he is conscious enough, see that he does not have an opportunity to see those parts of a woman's body that are normally covered. Do not allow him to see films on television or in cinema. Let him not see vulgar films, magazines and romantic novels, or listen to audio cassettes that provoke sentiments. Make it a habit to inspect his room, his bed and his belongings. Prevent him from meeting female relatives or neighbours even though they may be attending the same school" [refs. omitted].

The non-Islamic case is dealt with as an exemplum malum: "We find many stories of hopeless cases in Europe and America [ref. omitted] Students, boys and girls, waste all their time in writing romantic letters with catastrophic results. […] [The boy] must be awake to the intrigues hatched by the Jews, Zionists, Christians, and colonial powers to evoke social and moral corruption and vulgarity in societies. He will then watch out for the snares in the guise of women, film, theatre, magazines, newspapers, radio, television, vulgar dresses, nude pictures, and dens of prostitution, clandestine or known".

Beck[122] argues that puberty "brings with it not increased independence, but further restrictions and controls, particularly as regards contacts between the sexes, modesty, and sexual taboos. These are imposed earlier and more rigidly on the girls, for a girl must never be permitted to shame herself. If she does, her father is considered to blame" (p345).

Hymen Cult [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

An exponent of the hymen cult is hymen reconstruction (hymenorrhaphy, hymenoplasty)[123] said to occur in Morcocco[124], Egypt[125], Jordan[126], and also China. Hymen repair is illegal in most Arab countries but is said to have been performed unofficially throughout the Islamic world, with specialists doing five or six a week. The matter presents ethical issues in non-Islamic countries[127]. Of course, Islamic doctors are well aware of the fact that the coital truth of anatomical non-intactness is not a complete one. At the Medical Jurisprudence Third Symposium on "The Islamic Vision of Some Medical Practices" held from 18-21 April, 1987 A.D., Sheikh M. Al-Ghazali argued: "I swear to God, girls have come to me, they only played with themselves, and I believe them because their tears were faster than their words […][128]". El Saadawi (1980:p15-8)[129] relates that girls are refrained from masturbation by fear for their hymen; on the other hand, they would be frequently touched by their brothers.

Ethnographic Particularities [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Supra-Saharan Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Morocco (®Hammam; Riffians) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index] [IES]

"The most striking features of adolescent sexuality in Zawiya [Morocco] today center on three factors. First, there is a clear double standard, in which males have a good deal of sexual freedom and are assumed to be sexually active, while females are much more restricted in opportunities for sexual activity and are expected to remain virgins until marriage. Second, there is a much greater range of sexual practices by males than by females, including homoerotic play [[130]] and masturbation [[131]]. Finally, courtship, sexual values, and marriage choices are undergoing significant and rapid change as a result of increased access to education and electronic media"[132].

Menarche in Morocco is frequently an unexpected event, but might be discussed by girls amongst each other, and some elements might be heard in the hammam (Naamane-Guessous, 1988 [1990:p265-31])[133]; she might also hear things from a younger brother who has contacts outside the home. However, direct [formal] information prior to menstruation has risen from 17.3% to 24.2% in three decades. Since menarche is considered the beginning of sexual functioning, parental supervision is increased. Sex instruction is formulated in a set of prohibitions, and negative advises.

Makhlouf Obermeyer (2000:p247)[134]:

"In contemporary Morocco, information about initiation into sexuality is, as would be expected, obtained mainly from peers, films and popular songs, as well as printed media; novels, particularly photoromans (romances with photographs) represent an important source of ideas regarding romantic love and relationships between men and women, especially for young girls. Some sexual experimentation is believed to take place around the time of puberty in the context of same sex groups of adolescents (principally boys), and some same sex behavior is tolerated at that time as a temporary stage rather than a pathology (Davis and Davis, 1989). There is also anecdotal evidence regarding other forms of sexual experimentation (Dialmy, 1997)[[135]], but it is not possible to assess their representativeness".

Eppink (1974 [1976:p8]; 1977:p111; 1992)[136], offering a precise analysis of male Moroccan adolescent sexuality (and female: 1977:p133-43), states that adolescents use boys aged 8 and upward whom they judge "suitable" for the (passive) job. There is no shame (no girls), and the possibility of subordination; there would be no affection involved. An autobiography[137] revealed that boys "go with" other boys who are smaller or the same age. Boy masturbation was denied, but at least four types of animals were in vogue among the adolescents. As Duvert (p77, 78)[138] puts it: "C'est comme un jeu éducatif: on serre les fesses ensemble, le premier qui relâche est pédé". To further illustrate the difficult position for adolescents, Pascon and Bentahar (1971)[139] found that in Morocco, teenage zooerastic contacts are relatively common (cf. Webster, p177-8)[140]. Patai ([1962:p191]) states that young boys practice coitus with female donkeys with phallopoetic intentions. Davis and Davis (1989:p108-9, 112)[141]: "Prepubertal play with a sexual theme is rare but does occur, usually in the context of playing "groom and bride" in small groups of children. The groups are often composed of five- to eight-year-olds, sometimes including siblings. This play takes place in the house (usually outside the scrutiny of the parents) or in an empty lot. Children attempt to re-create the ceremony, music and dance they have witnessed at weddings, and the designated "groom" and "bride" may make contact with each other's genitals while playing at the defloration of the bride". Grown-ups frequently do not wait until the child poses questions relative to the sexual sphere, but "volunteer the information upon which the honour and prestige of the group depend" (Mernissi, [1985:p162])[142]. Moroccan girls are geared toward marriage from an early age (see Davis, 1983)[143]. Rassam[144] notes that "[…] the prospective bride, who tends to be very young (14-16) and immature, [is to] maintain a passive and almost somnambulistic attitude through the marriage [which] is to be viewed as a mandatory rite of passage which initiates the girl into womanhood […]".

In Dutch Moroccan families, sexual education is not in vogue, at least for children under age 10[145]. Serhane (1983)[146] studied the impact of modernity on adolescent sexuality.

Children are considered not to have a "sexuality" (Bartels, 1993:p121)[147]. Fasting signifies male sexual maturity. Girls are increasingly watched after menarche.

In a study[148] on second-generation immigrant Moroccans in Belgium, aged between 15 and 21 years old, unmarried, and from Berber or Arabic speaking families, the following was found:

"All girls are confronted with the virginity standard: sex before marriage is forbidden; the worth of a girl and the honour of her family is coupled with her virginity. Talking about sex and sexuality in the family is taboo; but the message of preserving one's virginity is clear: stay away from the boys, no sports, no tampons. There is greater social control and a more conservative attitude in Belgium than in the country of origin. A virginity certificate is required for a marriage license. This acts as a protection for the girl and her family. […] Girls do have contact with boys, except in extreme secrecy. There is heavy petting and love-making, but actual coitus is avoided […]. However, some girls fear to lose their boyfriend and have penetration sex. […] Most of the boys were aware that the Muslim teaching is that boys as well as girls should remain virgin until marriage, although very few think that sexual relations are forbidden for them […]. Premarital coitus is legitimated on several levels: there is no evidence of male virginity, sexual passion is irresistible in the man, they have to prove themselves a "real man". According to the boys, almost all Moroccan boys have sexual contact. They have a Belgian (or in far fewer cases a Moroccan) girlfriend, or they go to a prostitute […]. Going to a prostitute seems to be accepted for Moroccan men and boys".

[Additional refs.: Kadiri, N. (2001) Morocco, in Francoeur, R. T. (Ed.-in-chief) The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality. Vol. 4. New York: Continuum. Online ed.; Guessous, S. N. (2001) The passing of bodily seasons, UNESCO Courier 54,7/8:39-40]

Riffians (3,3,3,4,4,4;2,2) (Morocco) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

"Riffian youths who have not yet attained the age of puberty have intercourse with she-asses in order to get sexual capacity and to make the penis grow (Ford, 1945 [1964:p20]).

Algeria (Kabyles; ®Sub-Saharan Africa, Tuareg) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

In Algeria, (Miner and De Vos, 1960:p58)[149] boys and girls stroke the genitalia of their baby sibs, but never in the open. Adolescent sexuality was studied by Bachir Bouiadjara (1985)[150].

Kabyles (Algeria) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Among the Kabyles, "[a] father may marry his daughter before she has reached puberty"[151].

Tunisia [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

In rural Tunisia, the matter of menstruation is shrouded in hishma, shame; it is not talked about, and even in progressive families its occurrence is met with interpretations involving "a serious and shameful disease" (Gram, 1974:[p110])[152]. Afterwards, the girl is not allowed outside the house "for anything but the most legitimate social reasons"; paradoxically, they are encouraged to dress up and "look attractive". This corresponds to behaviour of the father towards his three-year-old girl, who "encourages a sort of demanding flirtatious feminine behavior forbidden his wife" ([p96]). Whether traditionally tattooed or not, "little girls are encouraged to think of themselves as objects, played with and decorated by their male relations". Her transition to adolescence is "hardly noticeable".

Libya (Bedouin, Teda; ®Sub-Saharan Africa, Tebu) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Bedouin (Northern Libya, Egypt) (eHRAF) [Rwala Bedouin: 3,3,3,4,-,4-;-,2] (®Arabic Bedouin) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Peters (1990:p249-50)[153] states sexual education is a problematic item in parent-child socialisation: "The subject of marriage between proximate generations is disallowed. Between father and son, avoidance of anything relating to sex or marriage is strictly observed. Only one male, the mother's brother, is free to discuss these matters and present a case for marriage to a father on behalf of a son. Men also have access to their fathers through their sisters, who are free to discuss any matters relating to male-female relationships with their mothers, and the latter, in turn, press fathers to marry off their sons". Boys and girls are parted at puberty, though not completely secluded. Girls grow up avoidance of becoming "bad girls", as defined by the concept of hasham, or modesty/chastity[154].

Teda; also Toda, Todaga, Todga, Tuda, Tudaga, (-,-,3,4,3-,4;4,1) (eastern and central Sahara; Chad, Niger, Libya) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Betrothal between ages 8 to 10 (Kronenberg, 1958)[155].

Egypt (Ancient; Fellahin, Nubians) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index] [IES]

An excerpt from an author's autobiography describes, among other developments, his "sexual awakening"[156].

[Additional refs.: Sherif, B. (2001) Egypt, in Francoeur, R. T. (Ed.in chief) The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality. Vol. IV. New York: Continuum. Online ed.]

Ancient Egypt [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

The art of writing, practised on a daily basis, was to be mastered before one has started to have sex with women (Lansin, cited by Toivari, 2000:p173)[157]. Boys were circumcised, but, apart from indications of Greek historians, there is no positive evidence for genital operations on girls (Toivari, p178-9); the operation might have had an anti-aphrodisiac motive. There appears to be little if any knowledge on sexual socialisation of children, or even "adolescents". Girls married "in der Regel mit Eintritt der Reife", which may have been, not unlike Rome, around age 12 or 13 (Feucht, 1995:p32-3)[158], or "shortly after beginning to menstruate" (Watterson, 1994 [1998:p589-, 84])[159], and first birth could be expected at age 12 to 15. Boys would marry at age 15. Children were not separated at play, and were nude (Jansen and Jansen, 1990:p55)[160]. Manniche (1987)[161] has little to add on this. "In ancient Egypt […] the prostitution of young girls was a religious practice, so that, according to Strabo, some of the most beautiful and highest-born maidens were forced into prostitution, and they continued as prostitutes until their first menstruation" (Benjamin and Masters, 1964:p161, ital. in orig.)[162].

There appears no evidence that brother-sister marriages were commonly child marriages (Hopkins, 1980:p353)[163]. In Roman times, Egyptian boys would be married at age 15 to girls aged 12 and 13[164] (cf. Feucht, 1985)[165]. Tyldesley[166]:

"There was no legal age of consent, although it is generally assumed that a girl would not have been considered eligible before the onset of menstruation at about the age of fourteen. A 26th Dynasty document recording a father's refusal to agree to his daughter's wedding because 'her time has not yet come' supports this view. However, evidence from Rome, where female puberty was legally fixed at twelve, indicates that ten or eleven-year-old brides were not uncommon, and we have no reason to doubt that equally young girls were married in Egypt. Indeed, it is only within the past fifty years that in modern rural Egypt marriage for girls as young as eleven has been prohibited by law. There is evidence from the Graeco-Roman period for Egyptian girls marrying as young as eight or nine, and we have a mummy label, written in demotic, which identified the body of an eleven-year-old wife".

Egyptians / Fellahin (2,2+,3+,4,4+,4+;2,0) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

"Au Caire, les petits garçons et les petites filles s'amusent entre eux complétement. Les petits garçons se livrent entre eux à la pédérastie. Il est très-ordinaire de voir de petits enfants de sept à huit ans faire toutes sortes de débauches" (Godard, 1867:p105)[167]. That is, little girls of six springs were seen copulating with five-year-old boys (Jacobus X, [1898, II:p95]; Bloch, 1902, I:p257)[168]. In Nubia girls are sold into marital consummation long before menarche (Abbadie, cited by Bloch, 1902, I :p252). According to Lane (1836)[169], Egyptian girls would in the past marry at the age of twelve or thirteen; and "some remarkably precocious" ones at the age of ten.

A discussion of early Egyptian boy prostitution is offered by Drew and Drake (1969:p54-8)[170]. Early in the century 100-200 boys of not more than 8-10 were castrated every year on a caravan route from the Sudan to Egypt to become eunuchs (Baer, 1967:p419)[171].

Ammar (1954:p159-60)[172]: "In the light of psycho-analytical findings, the period of latency in Silwa as expressed in children's play and games does not witness the "latency" or repression of sexuality as reported by psycho-analysts [sic]. On the contrary, till the age of ten and eleven children are given full swing of their rough and vulgar ways of talk in their games", a condition, however, only true for boys, whereas for girls, "phrases or symbols of sexuality are hardly expressed. The difference is certainly a reflection of the social norms governing sex, and exerts pressure on girls earlier than boys [sic]". Thus, latency, if existent, is "skin-deep". Ammar (p184-92) relates that adolescent girls are more restrained in their mobility, partly "because their breasts have grown". In this sense, restriction is said to follow an arc also found in Japan which has its lowest points in infancy and old age, and its highest just before marriage. Informal sex segregation begins at age 9 or ten, and is established at 12 to 13. However, it may also be almost complete after the age of six or seven (p155). Adolescence is shrouded by genital shame, and "any conversation about sex is taboo, and they are forbidden to talk about it to their parents or to any grown-up". These norms are "being imbibed gradually from childhood" (p188). "The maturing of sex functions at this stage is noted with great embarrassment, shame and feeling of guilt by adolescents", contrasting sharply to the bodily gratification given to infants (p190). This may refer to the mother's playing with boy's genitals (p105). "It is not unusual for girls to get married by the age of twelve and thirteen, in spite of the law which stipulates that this may not be effected before the age of sixteen".

The circumcision of seven- or eight-year-old girls is enacted "to prevent any suspicion on the bridegroom's part that the bride is not a virgin" (Ammar, p118). A pre-islamic[173] practice, circumcision ends what is, according to ancient Egyptian mythology, believed to be the natural bisexuality of men and women (Assaad, 1979[174]:p8; Hatem, 1987[175]:p298). A personal experience suggests an alternative function: "Girls are circumcized [at age 7 years] to keep them cool and able to control their sexual urges. Boys are circumcized because it is believed that they cannot copulate or beget children if they are not" (Khul-Khaal, p137).

Sexual matters are discussed before children "without the slightest reserve" (Blackman, 1948 [1968:p43])[176], particularly by women, which would "poison their minds at the very outset of their lives". Although Egyptian laws prohibited early marriage (before 16, boys until age 18), the girls are dressed up at an early age to attract men (p43, 47, 90), "old enough to be their fathers or even their grandfathers". Premarital promiscuity, however, is heavily tabooed, and it is said that female violators are murdered or expelled by their parents. Little girls have a perfectly free life until their marriageable age, when their freedom is somewhat more restricted (p37).

Ayrout:

"Village custom demands, on pain of death, that she [fellah's wife] be physically a virgin when she marries, but mentally she has caesed to be so long before. Since childhood she has been aware of her parents' intercourse, which is quite open due to the lack of privacy. The conversation of the women, at which the girls are usually present, turns constantly on these subjects […]".

Nubians (Kenuzi Nubians/ Barabra: 2,4,3,5,3+,4;4,1) (Egypt ) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index ] [Ethnographic Index]

Godard (1867:p85-8, cited by Jacobus X…, 1893 [1898, II:p93-5])[177] stated that "[i]n Nubia girls are married at the age of from eight to ten years, but the husband does not lie with them". Rather, the future husband verifies virginity digitally, and performs digital dilatation himself.

Kennedy (1970:181)[178]: "The Nubia argue that the only way to blunt the inherent sexual wildness of girls and to preserve their chastity is through this means [clitoridectomy, infibulation], though there is no medical evidence that any diminishing effect on desire is actually produced (Barclay, 1964:p238; Bonaparte, 1952:p68-73)[[179]]". Male and female circumcision was further thought to promote general health, fertility, cleanliness ("When the child begins to scratch himself, that is the time to arrange for his circumcision"[180]), and aesthetics.

Israel[181] [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index] [IES]

Around the middle 1700s, Roger related that girls were married off at age seven or eight, well before puberty (1664, as cited by Ze'evi, 1995:p159; cf. p163, 164)[182]. Twelker[183] provides some references to age of marriage of the early Israelites [orig. references footnoted]:

"Edershi[e]m (1953)[184] argues that at the time of Christ, girls up to the age of twelve years and one day might be betrothed or given away by their father. But even then, they had a right of insisting upon a divorce if they wanted. Men were expected to marry at 16 or 17, with the age of 20 being the upper limit unless the man's studies left no time. The minimum age for marriage for a boy was thirteen (de Vaux, 1965)[185]. Mielziner (1884)[186] provides slightly different data with respect to the marrying age. He states that in the ethical teaching of the Talmud, eighteen was considered the proper year for a young man to be married. However, the legal age to become married was set at the age of puberty: males had to complete their thirteenth year while females had to complete their twelfth year. Marriages were void under these limits. There was one exception: the father could give his minor daughter in marriage before puberty, but he adds that "such contracted infant marriages were, as a rule, not actually consummated before the parties had reached the age of puberty." Some rabbis protested this practice as "a moral wrong", but this custom prevailed, especially among European Jews during the persecutions in the Middle Ages".

In the "Geula" neighbourhood in Jerusalem, conflicts around sexual behaviour are part of the religious repressive ethic of Geula due to the strict separation of the sexes from early age, a conspiracy of silence around topics linked to the body, an absence of formal sex education until just prior to marriage, the association of women with the evil inclination and with impurity for boys, and the link of sex and violence for girls (Goshen-Gottstein, 1984)[187].

Some data relevant for childhood sexual behaviour are available through studies on adolescents[188]. According to a study by Hoch et al. (1978)[189], sex education during childhood originated mostly from peers and literature, but was almost completely lacking at school. Masturbation started early, being more frequent for males. They found a percentage of masturbation begun before age 10 of 10.2, as compared to 5.3% found by Klausner (1961b)[190]. The cumulative figures on ages 10-12 are even more disparate: 26.7% versus 60.0%. A third study (Lancet et al., 1974)[191] found figures of masturbarche age <13y of 60.0% (boys) opposing a low 12.0% (girls).

Miner and DeVos (1960)[192]:

"Despite the rather Puritanical attitude toward the free discussion of [sexual] matters or the open display of affection, Arab children learn about sex at an early age. In fact, the contrast between the lively interest in sex and the suppression of public indications of these feelings is one of the striking features of the culture. Children are given no parental instruction in matters of sex but family sleeping arrangements provide what almost amounts to laboratory training. […] Until they are five years old or more, children sleep on the same bed with their father and mother. Under such intimate circumstances, the children inescapably become aware of parent's intercourse. The adults are not disturbed by such cognizance of their sex life, but they consider that it is bad for even a baby to witness it. They commonly wait until the middle of the night to copulate when the children are asleep. If a child awakens, the parents will cover themselves or tell the child to turn away so as not to see them" (p56-7).

Adolescents are warned for incestuous contacts. Yet,

"While fornication is under heavy taboo, sex play is quite acceptable among siblings, until it becomes dangerously close to being a prelude to intercourse. The genitals of a baby are stroked by its brothers and sisters "to amuse and please it", but not in public. A small child may practice self-masturbation without reprimand, although later he or she learns that such activity should only be pursued in private. Ultimately he learns that it is not approved adult behavior. Among siblings in the same bed, fondling and mutual masturbation are common practice, both homosexually and heterosexually. Such activity, of course, is restricted to the bed. When early adolescents are first separated in their sleeping arrangements, "they are told that they must no longer play with one another. In touching his sister's breasts, a boy might get ideas. […] At a time when a boy's sexuality is becoming increasingly demanding, he is cut off from his sisters and pubescent girls by new sleeping arrangements, paternal vigilance, and the seclusion of girls to their homes. Most of his waking hours he now spends outside of the home, surrounded by unaffectionate, adult males. Homosexual relations with brothers and other boys are extended to include fellatio and sodomy. Bestiality with goats, sheep, or camels provides another outlet. These practices are not approved but they are recognized as common among boys. They are strongly taboo as adult behavior, although it is not unknown for a taleb to practice sodomy with students. It is the passive role in such relations which is most shameful and I heard of one boy of thirteen who received pay for assuming it" (p58-9; see also p187).

Kibbutz [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

As is narrated in work by Neubauer (1965:p31)[193], masturbation could be practised openly until age nine; after this age, privacy was urged upon. Rabin (1965:p33-4)[194] stated that despite the freedom with respect to viewing the body of the opposite sex, kibbutz taboos and prohibitions with regard to sex play and sexual contacts are "strict and unrelenting", not unlike brother-sister taboos in the conventional family. Spiro (1959 [1976:p219-28, 275-82])[195] gives a detailed account on sexual development in the Kibbutz. According to this numeric study, sex training is "probably the most permissive of all behavioral systems". Unlike parents, no observations document nurses' interference with child sexual behaviour. Faigin (1958)[196] reported of a study of "sex training" carried out in 2 settlements, the children ranged in age from 19-38 months. On the basis of 2389 questionnaires, added to 32 "intimate diaries" and letters, Wolman (1951)[197] observes that in boys "[m]asturbation is the focus of sexual conduct during [pre-adolescence]. […] masturbation precedes feelings of love or any physical hetero-sexual contacts". In girls, for some reason, "the exact statement of onset was extremely difficult". Petting before age 14 was indicated by 13% of boys (compared to 33.7% in Kinsey's highest education level). [The interpretations of the author, apart from his particular use of the English language, fraud with interpretations referring to previous American material. His arguments on self-restraint, restraint by public opinion and by the home seem debatable.]

Irvine (1952:p272-4)[198] does not provide specific observations on sex rearing. Significantly, Shtarshall and Zwerdling (1997)[199] are likewise not very specific on childhood sexual socialisation, or sexual behaviour.

Talmon (1964:p205-6)[200]:

"Attitudes to childhood sexuality are permissive and sexual manifestations in young children are viewed as normal. Living and sleeping quarters are bisexual during this stage. Children of different sexes sleep in the same room, shower together, play and run around in the nude and there is a considerable amount of wrestling, tickling, exploring, soothing and caressing between them. This close contact between the sexes continues until the second or third grade, and then decreases with age. Gradually, a sense of sexual shame emerges, and a growing distance between the sexes. Showers are taken separately. Sleeping arrangements are reshuffled; from the fourth grade on room occupancy is unisexual. All group activities remain bisexual but friendship becomes unisexual. The onset of puberty brings about a conspicuous increase in sexual shame and the development of considerable hostility between the sexes. Girls take great pains to hide their nudity when undressing and keep to themselves as much as possible. [etc.] Much of this tension stems from the differential rate of sexual maturation. […] This hostility continues until the age of 14 or 15 and then recedes, as the boys catch up with the girls […]. Attitudes toward adolescent sexuality are more restrictive than attitudes toward childhood sexuality. The educational ideology upheld by both teachers and parents maintains that adolescents should refrain from sexual relations until they finish secondary school. It is felt that preoccupation with sexual matters prevents full concentration on school activities and has a disruptive effect on the peer group and on the student society. […] Seductiveness, coquetry and flirtatiousness are strongly discouraged. Sex does not loom very large in the lives of these adolescents".

[Additional refs.: Rappaport, T. (1992) Two Patterns of Girlhood: Inconsistent Sexuality-Laden Experiences across Institutions of Socialisation and Socio-Cultural Milieux, Int Sociol 7,3:329-46; Antonovsky, H. F., Kavenaki, S., Lancet, M., Modan, M. & Shoham, I. (1980) Adolescent Sexuality: A Study of Attitudes and Behavior. Lexington, Mass./Toronto: LexingtonBooks; Antonovsky, H. F., Shoham, I. & Kavenaki, S. (1980) Gender differences in patterns of adolescent sexual behavior, J Youth & Adolesc 9,2:127-41. Freitler and Kreitler (1966)[201] examined the birth theories of children of parents from diverse nationalities, including Israel. Some (significant?) differences were found between Oriental and Western children.]

Lebanon, Palestine [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

According to Manasra[202], Palestinian patriarchal tradition has given more rights to women than religion has. From birth, expectations differed by the sex of the infant. The role of the male was to carry on the family name and secure its financial future. Girls were considered burdens and required greater parental responsibility; early marriage was desired and the husband then assumed responsibility. Male's honour was only tied to their ability to control the behaviour of their womenfolk. Girls were taught obedience and acceptance and thus were easier to raise. Girls were expected to take some household responsibility from the age of 5 years, while boys played. Girls were confined to the home and quiet activity. Teenage girls' sexualitywas controlled by threats.

According to research by Melikian and Prothro (1954)[203], Beirut Arabs have their first homosexual intercourse at mean age 12, as opposed to 13 for Americans (cf. Melikian, 1967)[204]. The latter study, which subjects were 41 out of 69 Lebanese, documented the following pattern (resembling the ®Mexico case as described by Carrier):

"Even though no differences appear in the age of first sexual experience of any categories [comparing the latter with the former study], it is interesting to note that for both groups the mean age at which the first homosexual experience is reported to have occurred is lower than the means for onset of the first nocturnal emission, masturbation, and heterosexual intercourse. These results seem to indicate that the first experience of 43 per cent of our Ss [subjects] was homosexual in its nature and occurred before they became sexually mature: i.e., it is easier than the onset of nocturnal emissions. In general, they were introduced to it mainly by older peers or, less frequently, by a practicing adult. Even though homosexuality appears to be their first introduction to sex, it was also the first abandoned" (p172).

Prothro (1967:p117-21)[205] took interviews on 468 Lebanese mothers regarding their sexual socialisation. 377/463 stated that five-year-olds had no knowledge of babies' origins. "Children were told that babies came from the sea [sometimes with a reference to Moses' delivery in a basket], from cabbages, from Saint Nicolas or other generous religious figures, from heaven or from God". However, there is a significant difference, for instance, between lower-class Sunni mothers in the valley, and middle class Orthodox mothers in urban regions. 75% stated never to have noted deliberate handling of genitals before age five, a remarkable outcome given available studies for the first two years[206]. Of the 106 mothers who said they did observe genital handling, 90% expressed strong disapproval, without group differences.

Lutfiyya (1966:p129)[207] states that in villages around Palestine, "[t]he selection of a suitable [marriage] mate is conditioned by the fact that boys and girls stop associating with one another after about the age of ten. A mother might threat an infant in that she will "apply fire to its sex organ" (p158). No sex education is given at home (p160), which is apparently left to playmates, older children, and direct experience. "Boys learn to masturbate in groups, but in seclusion from other people", which might lead to transient homosexual contacts "early in life". In women, "[t]he sex impulse is strictly suppressed before marriage". In the case of abusive situations, the moral climate may hamper disclosure (Shalhoub-Kevorkian, 1999)[208].

Williams (1968:p32)[209] observed that children lie on the same mattress as their siblings and until adolescence; a separate room comes with marriage, which signifies full sexual and social status (Fuller, 1961:p55)[210]. Childhood freedom is consumed by chores, and "[p]re-adolescent girls […] rapidly become aware that the life of their sex is primarily related to care of the home and children".

"Sexual knowledge comes gradually to a child in terms of its own observations and age. Mothers and grandmothers handle the genitals of a boy infant in order to soothe him. Masturbation and sex play among children are reprimanded, however. At a young age great stress is laid upon bodily modesty, particularly in keeping the sexual organs from view. This holds especially true for girl children, who are constantly reminded to sit with their legs closed or not to sprawl flat, since that indicates a sexual posture. […] As a child inhabits the same room as his parents and barnyard life is close at hand, he comes at an early age to full knowledge of sex. His vocabulary soon includes a variety of sexual and reproductive terms, including oaths and jests of a sexual nature. Grown-ups derive a certain sport from teaching small children sexual words, the meaning of which they are hardly aware, and having them recite them in public" (p40-1).

Jordan [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

[no data available to date]

Syria [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

18-century marriage occurred in early adolescence[211].

Kurds, Kurdistan (3,3,3,4,4-,4;4,1) (Turkey, Iraq, Iran) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Hansen (1961:p110)[212], on the Kurds of Iraq: "As the children always stayed among the adults they obtained all the sexual instruction they could understand, and became aware of all phases of life". "[…] [T]here seems to be little effort made to conceal sexual intercourse from the children, who, however, are either too sleepy or too well aware of it to find it of much interest" (Masters, 1953)[213]. Also, "[b]oys and girls of the town may mingle freely until the veil separates them at the age of fifteen or sixteen […]. The boys and girls, however, separate into two groups even before the segregation of adolescence takes place. […] Sexual education begins early in life, and does not seem to constitute a disturbing factor until adolescence. There is no standard parental formula for masturbation, and it was said that "some parents beat their children for this, and others advise them". It might also be noted that obscene language is freely permitted in most Kurdish households, except in the presence of the older males. One, for example, heard a mother call her daughter a "prostitute", and a little girl, who could scarcely appreciate the meaning of the word, addressed her sister in the same fashion" (ibid.; see p126, 261-3).

Iraq (®Kurds) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Sex is an androcentric structure. Girls are indoctrinated with virginity concepts, and are told little more than this (Al-Khayyat, 1990)[214].

Klausner (1961)[215] provides original data on the sex histories of Iraqi women. Klausner (1963/1971)[216] further compared the sex histories of Iraqi in Bagdad, and Iraqese and native born Isreali (data are specific for ages 11 and upward for Bagdad Iraqi, 17 or 21 and upward for Iraqi Israeli, and 11 or 12 and upward for native-born Israeli).

Turkey, Turks (3,3,4,4+,4,4;5,2) (®Kurds) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index] [IES]

The genital reference in infancy is well documented.

Delaney (1991:p78-9)[217] stated that infants' "penises were kissed and stroked […] grandparents and parents fondled their genitals and repeated: "You are male, you are male" ". Blowing on the penis is done to encourage urination. Female genitals and masturbation are ignored. Olsen (1981:p108)[218] saw her daughter's "sugar box" "kissed lovingly" by a Turkish maid/nurse and was urged to do the same "as a part of appropriate "mothering" ". Olson-Prather (1976:p278)[219] noted that a teenage neighbour girl of the elite class expressed verbal but not physical admiration. Bilge, another American researcher told Olson[220] that this was common among recent and earlier Turkish immigrants near Detroit, Michigan. Helling (1960:p87-8)[221] described that old women may snatch at the penises of little boys as they run by in the nude, threatening to cut them off, but also in apparent celebration of his incipient virility.

As can be examined in a revealing article by Unal (1994; 2000)[222] on Turkish children, clinicians are apparently still out to "identify children who could be at risk of developing CM [childhood masturbation], such as children with a history of insufficient breastfeeding, sleep difficulties in the infancy period, and genito-urinary diseases" [ital.add.].

Observers of 19th century Istanbul mention prenatal betrothal, while the occurrence of pubescent marriage, (although some mention marriage ages for girls of twelve and fourteen) was found to be dubious by Duben (1990:p420)[223]. Among the Black Sea Turks, there is mention of female infant betrothal, the practice of the groom's family rearing the betrothed female infant, the wearing of corsets by virgins and their removal by the groom on the wedding night (Meeker, 1971:p330, n1)[224]. Pelin (1999)[225] discussed the custom of virginity tests.

While 50.8% of female Turkish students believed their knowledge about sexuality was adequate, on evaluating the results, this did not live up to researchers' standards[226]. Girlfriends were found to be the most important source of sexual knowledge. The study indicated that 88.8% of the girls wanted to have sexual education at schools and 60.5% of those preferred to take such a lecture together with boys.

[Additional refs.: Aydin, H. & Gülçat, Z. (2001) Turkey, in Francoeur, R. T. (Ed.-in-chief) The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality. Vol. 4. New York: Continuum. Online ed.]

Iran (Basseri, ®Kurds) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index] [IES]

Rural Iranians betroth children "very young", while marriage is delayed till 14 (girls) and eighteen (boys) (Arasteh and Arasteh, 1964:p156)[227] or 12 and 15[228]. The minimum lawful age of marriage now is fifteen (girls) and eighteen (boys), although courts sometimes permitted marriage at ages thirteen (g) and fifteen (b) (Levy, 1957)[229].

Early marriage for both men and women was a common practice in Iran (Moezi, 1967[230], as cited by Aghajanian). According to the 19th century travellers to Iran, children were often betrothed when they were young, although the wedding did not take place for some years (Rice, 1923[231], as cited by Aghajanian). In the past, children were occasionally betrothed in infancy and they would become couples when the female was about 14 and the male about 16 years of age (Piggot, 1874[232], as cited by Aghajanian). "In traditional Iran parents often arranged the betrothal and even marriage of their children at an early age", legally so before puberty. Consummation would occur at physical maturity only (Wills, 1886)[233]. From early childhood, "until recently girls married before pubertal onset" (Friedl, 1978 [1985:p206, 209])[234], but this has been delayed since about 1970, partially because of the legal age of marriage for girls raised to 15 (Friedl, 1981:p17)[235]. A recent study suggests marriage ages 17.10 +/- 4.24 years[236]. "Men are strongly advised not to imitate sexual intercourse with girls under the age of nine, even though they are permitted to marry them. Some of the legal scholars have even considered it forbidden […]" (Haeri, 1989)[237]. Premenstrual girls could be divorced at any time. According to the 19th century travellers to Iran, children were often betrothed when they were young, although the wedding did not take place for some years (Rice, 1923[238], as cited by Aghajanian). In the past, children were occasionally betrothed in infancy and they would become couples when the female was about 14 and the male about 16 years of age (Piggot, 1874[239], as cited by Aghajanian). Under Khomeni, Shari'a [Islamic Law] re-established a minimum age of 13 for marriage of girls[240]. Girls were permitted "as young as nine [[241]], even seven in some cases, to be married if a physician signs a certificate agreeing to their sexual maturity" (Goodwin, 1994:p114[242]; cf. Ladier-Fouladi, 1997:p198-9)[243]. The doctor was said to consult the family without seeing the girl. A ban was placed on coitus below the age of seven.

Rhymes include oral, anal and genital themes (Friedl, 1997:p235)[244]. Among the Jews, "[m]asturbation is strongly opposed on religious grounds but it is said to be common. Informants claim that when the boy is old enough to ejaculate, he is taken to a [M]uslim prostitute; in the past he would be married off to avoid the problem" (Loeb, 1977:p72)[245]. After toddlerhood, children are explicitly discouraged from playing together by the warning that they might transform into the opposite sex.

Drew (1997)[246] stated that "[l]ittle girls of all ages are kept well covered. In many provincial towns, girl babies are hidden completely under their mother's chador on the street. Toddler girls wear chadors often with only a pacifier protruding from its folds. […] Little boys are often bare from the waist down, obviating the need for diapers outside. At any age, males may urinate openly in the street or at the roadside". [The Iranian chador of 1970-1 was worn in public "starting before the age of puberty"[247]].

Prior to puberty, male children gain a much more extensive knowledge of female anatomy at all stages of the life cycle, and all stages of pregnancy and lactation, by virtue of the fact that their mothers take them to the public baths with them on "women's day. […] It is up to the bath attendants to decide, based on their own observations, whether a young boy is too old to be present on women's day. Clearly men retain in adulthood images of what they saw in the bathhouse during childhood". On sexual behaviour:

"Children do not play unsupervised. An invitation to a child to play at the house of a neighbor or a schoolmate always includes the mother. Such invitations are in any case rare, as are all social interactions with nonkin. Children, in general, play with their cousins under the watchful eye of all mothers. Female children are watched very carefully. Access to information on sex-rehearsal play would be severely hampered by cultural taboos on admitting anything detrimental about one's children, especially to nonkin".

The attitude toward sexually abusive experiences seems remarkable:

"Since marriages can be contracted at any point after a girl has reached the age of 9, it is legally feasible for a very little girl to be married to a man of any age, and thus be physically at his mercy. This no doubt constitutes the broadest category of potential sexual abuse of children. One of the strongest arguments made in Iran against the custody of children, particularly girls, being given to the mother, is that on her remarriage, the children will be in danger of sexual abuse from the new husband. Sexual abuse of children, particularly little girls, often occurs at the hands of uncles and cousins staying under the same roof. In such cases, the child's mother is inevitably blamed for leaving her child unguarded, and little outrage is directed at the abuser. Sexual abuse of children in a family setting is not the concern of the police, nor are there any relevant social agencies to which it could be reported. A young servant boy would be withdrawn from the household by his parents if he were the victim of abuse. Only in the case of a young servant girl could the police be implicated, and then only if her virginity had been certified prior to employment" (Guljick and Guljick, 1978 [1979:p513-4])[248].

According to Hojat et al. (1999)[249], Iranians in the United States in general, and women in particular, compared with their counterparts in Iran, expressed more permissive attitudes toward premarital sex and sex education.

Basseri (southern Iran) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

According to Barth (1961:p139)[250], girls' sex interest in boys would start "usually around her fourteenth year".

Kuwait [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

The position of Kuwaiti women has changed dramatically over the past decades. However, until the 1950s, women lived under constraining physical and social conditions often associated with orthodox Muslim female conditions of the past: secluded, veiled, married at puberty to a male relative (Longva, 1993:p444)[251]. Among the traditional Kuwaitis, "[…] the legal and customary age of marriage was defined by the onset of menarche, despite some evidence that some girls were married before puberty" (Hill, 1975:p545)[252]. This custom has been abandoned.

Saudi Arabia (Arabs, Bedouin) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

"In Jiddah girls begin to wear the veil before they reach puberty, but veiling becomes mandatory with the onset of menstruation" (Altorki, 1986:p36)[253]. Cole (1977:p103 / 1985:p208-9)[254] documents that among the Al Murrah nomads the veil is worn "past puberty". Premarital sex is uncommon for males, and taboo for females.

Arabs (®Arab Americans) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Jacobus X (1893 [1898, II:p94])[255] states: "Among the Arabs marriage usually takes place before the period of the menses. If the bride is aged from nine to ten years, she is deflowered by a matron, if she has attained the age of thirteen years, the operation is performed by the husband. The same customs prevail among the schismatic Copts". However, "[l]ittle girls are sometimes deflowered very early. Madame X…informed me that she had seen, during the feast of the Ramadan, a little girl of six years of age and a boy of five acting coition in the street; they were merely imitating what they had witnessed. Sometimes little Arabs of from three to four years old are summoned by a little girl of their own age to coition in the open street. This seems incredible". As reviewed by Breiner (undated)[256],

"The family in general, including the parents, will masturbate the infant boy to "increase its size and strengthen it". This can go on for hours (Edwardes, Masters, 1963). In boyhood there is mutual masturbation, fellatio, and anal intercourse. […] Little girls are taught to stay in a very protected, segregated environment. They often become child brides before puberty (Omran, 1976; Standley, 1981)[[257]]. The boy is taught three things about sex: 1) that it is sinful, 2) that it is exciting and pleasurable, and 3) that it is also important for him to perform well sexually. Sex is a taboo subject, though it is central in the thinking and the general conversation in the male Arab world".

Antoun[258] and others have written extensively on how the legitimate conjugal relationship is guarded in Middle Eastern villages through child betrothal, virginity tests, arranged marriages and elopement involving cases of honour. The girl finds herself under a rather strict moral guidance (Granqvist, 1947:p159ff)[259]. A wedding may be her only day out of the home. On the other hand, "[o]rdinary sexual matters are discussed before small children with a frankness and simplicity which modern educationists might approve, but which an English person may find at times embarrassing" (Dickson, 1949:p58)[260].

Bedouin (Arabia, Negev, Sinai) (®Libya Bedouin) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

"Good women deny interest in sexual matters and deny their own sexuality", a credo taught to girls as an important item of their socialisation (Abu-Lughod, 1986:p153)[261]. Among North-Arabic Bedouins, proof of a girl's premarital sexual experience would mean her death (Jaussen and Savignac, 1920[262]:p20; Reintjens, 1975[263]:p100-3).

"Religious law prescribes not under fourteen years for a marriage of girls, but bedouin tribes have no fixed age, being guided more by the development of the girl in question with the result that brides are sometimes as young as twelve years. It is rarely that the bridegroom is younger than fifteen years. […] Old men, particularly men who are considered to be rich, contract many marriages with girls who are little more than children"[264].

Bahrain [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index] [IES]

On formal and informal sexual information, McCarthy (1997)[265] stated:

"There is a national curriculum which is taught in the boys and girls schools using the same textbook. The course content offered to Intermediate School students is not labelled as sex education. An introduction to human anatomy and physiology is taught to students around the ages of 10 to 12, depending on a student's school entry age. This basic course is purely an anatomy and physiology approach to sexuality, and male and female informants said they learned about eggs, sperm, menstruation, etc. Family planning is now also covered in this course. There is no discussion of personal relationships or human sexuality, as this is considered haraam. There is little discussion of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) as the emphasis is on normal anatomy and physiology".

"Informants mentioned a variety of informal sources for their early sex education, as most said parental instruction was rare and consisted of "don't touch it" or "don't let anyone touch." Regarding parental instruction, the range of responses included those who said, "I could never talk to my mother/father about that," "She/he did not encourage us to ask," "Mother didn't tell," and "We didn't ask mother," to those whose parents were supportive and "explained when asked," to parents who approached them first and "gave them books to read," and/or "explained everything to them." Some girls were told riding bikes and horses could be harmful, so they should be careful. All informants, men and women, said they discussed sex-related topics with their friends; some did or did not discuss such sex-related matters with their older or younger siblings. All informants likewise said that the media had an influence on their knowledge, including movies (Indian, Arabic, Western), music (Arabic, Western), and books and magazines. Some mentioned how their friends or coworkers, at the time of their engagement, gave them graphic information on "what to do" and "how to do it" ".

Information on auto-erotic behaviour:

"Informants report that Bahraini children around the ages of 2.5 and 3 begin to touch themselves in the genital region like children around the world. As soon as relatives see this activity beginning, the child is taught this is not socially acceptable, and every time the behavior is seen, the child is admonished verbally not to do it (physical punishment is not used). Bahraini children do not walk around naked and always have clothes on.

All the female informants report that their mothers from a very early age taught them how to sit with their legs together, to sit carefully and to ensure they are covered properly, and how not to sit (not to squat, and "not to let anything show"). Some report that they were taught how to wash their genitals in a proper way, and now they are teaching or taught it to their female children, e.g., with a closed finger and thumb position, and not with their fingers reaching and feeling. The prevalence of this particular washing method is not known. When girls reach the age of 10 to 12, their general play activities become restricted, and all reported their mothers told them their bodies would be changing and that they needed to behave in a careful manner. The concept of virginity and being careful with sharp objects was instilled in them. The incidence or types of autoerotic behaviors in this age group have not been studied".

Further,

"[c]hildren seen touching other children in any suggestive manner are firmly instructed that this behavior is not appropriate. All sexual exploration and sexual rehearsal play, if noted by the parents or relatives, is strongly extolled as forbidden"[266].

Oman (Wikan) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Marriage at age 13 was common in Oman (Wikan, 1982:p60-1)[267], following segregation from age two and a virginity test (1984:p639)[268]. Sexual jokes were told in front of children (p137). Wikan (1982:p85) stated that Omans "[...] observe no shyness for children, not even for a son in his teens. For this reason, children presumably grow up with a "natural", matter-of-fact attitude to these aspects of life". Children may play "house and family", but no statements are made on erotic elements. More strictness and distance are observed from school age. Men seem to assume that boys "start being curious and [explore] sexual matters" at puberty (p176). Early teen homosexuality is severely punished (p178). Traditionally, "[a]round the age of three, girls start observing sexual modesty. They cover all parts of the body other than hands, feet and face. The face comes next, around the age of 13, when black masks (burqa) are assumed which screen forehead, cheeks, nose and upper lips" (Wikan, 1977:p307)[269].

Yemen [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Twenty-nine of Dorsky's fifty women (1986:p143-5)[270] claimed to be premenarchal at marriage.

"Despite the general claim in Άmran that a few considerate men delay sexual relations until their wives are sexually mature, this was not the case for any of these twenty-nine informants. Although townswomen are sharply critical of "excessively early" marriages (but they do not define excessive earliness precisely), they do not focus specifically on the attainment of menarche. Almost no women state directly that girls who do not menstruate are not ready for marriage. In fact, many claim that sexual activity hastens the onset of menstruation, although several say they themselves did not begin to menstruate until several years after marriage. A few months after her daughter's marriage, a woman announced proudly to me, "Arwa has gotten to be all right!" When I asked what she meant, she explained, "She has gotten her period [...]. It usually comes quickly once a girl gets married" (p135).

According to Chelhod (1973:p60)[271] in was common for girls to marry before puberty. In one village (Bornstein, 1974)[272], 22 out of 147 were married between eight and ten. As in Maklouf (1979)[273], the average age for girls was estimated at 13 or 14, and significantly higher for males. In another, far northern village (Myntti, 1979)[274], 65% of ever-married women had done so before puberty.

Dorsky (1986:p123) stated that women say they had no idea of what was to occur in their wedding nights, and believe it is best for a woman to learn such things from her husband. "Many mothers say they would be too embarrassed to tell their daughters what to expect. However, some women say that, in actuality, girls do learn about sex from an early age, although the knowledge may well fail to protect them from experiencing shock and shame at their first sexual experience".

Afghanistan (®Bačas; Pashtun) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Khoshbeen (1970)[275] speaks of "[a] deliberate blindness toward sex and toward the oncoming manifestations of puberty" on the part of the child. Wilber (1962:p90-1)[276] relates that at age ten, "[…] or so, [the sexes] separate, […]. Although Afghan culture does not provide for a period of courtship nor for casual friendship among boys and girls of marriageable age, meetings between adolescent boys and girls do take place". Cousin marriage is preferred. "Marriage is arranged by the family and among the townsmen is sometimes contracted between a boy as young as fifteen and a girl as young as twelve"; however, marriage usually is prolonged until the late teens or twenties. Girls are veiled at age 12[277].

Kazach, Kazak; Kazakstan (3,3,3,3,3,3;5,5;E) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

According to Hudson (1938)[278], age of marriage depended on family wealth, the rich marrying younger. Girls could be married before sexual maturity, while boys aged eight or nine would be married to women of middle age (Rendenko, 1930:p48)[279]. Older sources mention prenatal and infant betrothal[280].

A 1995 survey (Agadjanian and Qian, 1997)[281] reveals at first sexual intercourse of 21.1 (SD=3.2) for nonrussified and for russified Kazaka, compared to 19.8 for Europeans, among ever-married or cohabiting women.

Index to Section: Middle-East [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

[1] See also Supra-Saharan Africa, India, Asia, Indonesia

[2] Messina (1991:p202), cit. infra

[3] Bullough, V. L. (1973) The Subordinate Sex. Urbana: University of Illinois Press

[4] Farah, M. (1984) Marriage and Sexuality in Islam. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, p16. Bukhari's Hadith, translated into English by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan: "Narrated Aisha that the prophet wrote the marriage contract with her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old. Hisham said: "I have been informed that Aisha remained with the prophet for nine years [i.e. till his death]" " (vol. 7:p65): "Narrated Urwa: "The prophet wrote the [marriage contract] with Aisha while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old and she remained with him for nine years [i.e. till his death]" " (vol. 7:p88); "Narrated Aisha: The prophet engaged me when I was a girl of six. We went to Medina and stayed at the home of Harith Kharzraj. Then I got ill and my hair fell down. Later on my hair grew (again) and my mother, Um Ruman, came to me while I was playing in a swing with some of my girl friends. She called me, and I went to her, not knowing what she wanted to do to me. She caught me by the hand and made me stand at the door of the house. I was breathless then, and when my breathing became all right, she took some water and rubbed my face and head with it. Then she took me into the house. There in the house I saw some Ansari women who said, "Best wishes and Allah's blessing and a good luck". Then she entrusted me to them and they prepared me (for the marriage). Unexpectedly Allah's messenger came to me in the forenoon and my mother handed me over to him, and at that time I was a girl of nine years of age" (Vol. 5:p234). "Aisha reported: Allah's Messenger married me when I was six years old, and I was admitted to his house at the age of nine […]" (Hadith of Sahih Muslim, Vol.2:p3309). "Aisha said, "The Apostle of Allah married me when I was seven years old" (The narrator Sulaiman said: "Or six years"). "He had intercourse with me when I was 9 years old" (Hadith of the Sunan of Abu Dawud, Vol.2:p2116). Tabari's 39 volume history of Islam tells its readers: "[....] my marriage [to Muhammad] was consummated when I was nine [...]" (Vol.7:p7). Also: "Then the men and women got up and left. The Messenger of God consummated his marriage with me in my house when I was nine years old. Neither a camel nor a sheep was slaughtered on behalf of me [...] [The Prophet] married her three years before the Emigration, when she was seven years old and consummated the marriage when she was nine years old, after he had emigrated to Medina in Shawwal. She was eighteen years old when he died" (Vol.9:p131). The Encyclopedia of Islam, under "Aisha" (E. J. Brill) states: "Some time after the death of Khadija, Khawla suggested to Muhammad that he should marry either Aisha, the 6 year old daughter of his chief follower, or Sawda Zama, a widow of about 30, who had gone as a Muslim to Abyssinia and whose husband had died there. Muhammad is said to have asked her to arrange for him to marry both. It had already been agreed that Aisha should marry Djubayr Mutim, whose father, though still pagan, was friendly to the Muslims. By common consent, however, this agreement was set aside, and Muhammad was betrothed to Aisha [...]. The marriage was not consummated until some months after the Hidjra, (in April 623, 624). Aisha went to live in an apartment in Muhammad's house, later the mosque of Median. She cannot have been more than ten years old at the time and took her toys to her new home".

From the Muslim book Women in Islam by Said Abjullah Seif-Al-Hatimy, published by Islamic Publications in Lahore Pakistan: "[...] [Aisha] was the youngest of his wives. It is said that she was nine years of age when he married her".

There has been some confusion about the definition of the word "consummate". In Sahih Bukhari, vol. 7,p64, the root word used is "dakhala". According to the Hans-Wehr Arabic-English Dictionary (p273), it means "to enter, to pierce, to penetrate, to consummate the marriage, cohabit, sleep with a woman".

[5] Bullough, V. L. (1976) Sexual Variance in Society and History. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press

[6] Antoun, R. T. (1980) The Islamic Court, the Islamic Judge, and the Accommodation of Traditions: A Jordanian Case Study, Int J Middle East Stud 12,4:455-67

[7] Rizvi, S. M. (undated) Marriage & Morals in Islam. Vancouver Islamic Educational Foundation. Qum: Ansariyan Publications

[8] Motzki, H. (1985) Geschlechtsreife und Legitimation zur Zeugung im frühen Islam, in Müller, E. W. (Ed.) Geschlechtsreife und Legitimation zur Zeugung. München: K. Alber, p479-550

[9] Francoeur, R. T. (1990) Current religious doctrines of sexual and erotic development in childhood, in Perry, M. E. (Ed.) Handbook of Sexology volume VII: Childhood and Adolescent Sexology. Amsterdam: Elsevier, p80-112

[10] El-Behairy, M. (1994) Islam: sexual relations in the Muslim world, in Bullough, V. L. & Bullough, B. (Eds.) Human Sexuality: An Encyclopedia. New York & London: Garland Publ. Inc.

[11] Edwardes, A. & Masters, R. E. L. (1961) The Cradle of Erotica. N.Y.: The Julian Press. See also Edwardes, A. (1959) The Jewel in the Lotus. N.Y.: The Julian Press

[12] Edwardes, A. (1967b) Self-stimulation among Arabs and Jews, in Masters, R. E. L. (Ed.) Sexual Self-Stimulation. Los Angeles: Sherbourne Press, p304-14. Reprinted as "Die Selbstbefriedigung bei Arabern und Juden", in Masters, R. E. L. (Ed., 1969) Das Heimliche Laster. München: Lichtenberg Verlag, p197-204

[13] On Judaic interests in masturbation: "There is much uplifting homiletic and instructive literature that ranges from looking on onanism as a corrupting practice to seeing it as a wasteful and diverting substitute for authentic human relations. Sometimes it is seen as an acceptable release of tensions in a situation where other releases are not possible. Some modern Jewish thinkers would incline to the latter view. Some past thinkers dealt with it very little or not at all". Podet, A. H. (1994) Judaism and sexuality, in Bullough, V. L. & Bullough, B. (Eds.) Human Sexuality: An Encyclopedia. New York & London: Garland Publ.. Inc. [A work that might prove of interest is Havre, V. du (1847) Cause Morale De La Circoncision des Israélites, Institution Préventive de L'onanisme des Enfants et des Principales Causes d'Epuisement : Réhabilitation et Réforme.]

[14] DeMause, L. (1991) The Universality of Incest, J Psychohist 19,2:123-64. See also DeMause, L. (nd) The Emotional Life of Nations. Karnac Books, Limited, UK. Online ed., chapter 7

[15] Edwardes and Masters, The Cradle of Erotica, p40, 42, 239-45 [orig.footnote]

[16] The Emotional Life of Nations, ch. 3 / DeMause, L. (2002) The childhood origins of terrorism,J Psychohist 29,4:340-8

[17] Minai, N. (1981) Women in Islam. New York: Seaview/London: Murray

[18] Buitelaar, M. & Van Gelder, G. J. (1996) Het Badhuis tussen Hemel en Hel. Amsterdam: Bulaaq [Dutch]

[19] Drew, P. E. (1997) Iran, in Francoeur, R. T. (Ed.) The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality. New York: Continuum. Quoted from the online edition

[20] Serhane, A. ([1995]) L'Amour Circoncis: Essai. 2nd ed. Casablanca: Editions Eddif

[21] Ferid Boughedir; Tunisia / France, 1990. For a further impression see Hayes, J. (2000) Queer Nations: Marginal Sexualities in the Maghreb. Chicago, ill. [etc.]: University of Chicago Press, p241-61

[22] Mernissi, F. (1994) Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley

[23] An interesting parallel, Newson and Newson (1968:p363-5) discussed the developmental difference in "looking" and "seeing" in American four-year-olds.

[24] Bouhdiba, A. (1985) Sexuality in Islam. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, p165, 169, 171,173; as quoted by DeMause (1991), op.cit

[25] Messina, M. G. (1991) Celebrations of the Body. Dissertation, Stony Brook (State University of New York)

[26] Cf. Volume II, chapter 9

[27] Patai, R. (1967) The Hebrew Goddess. New York: Ktav Publ. House. Also cited by Duerr, H. P. (1988) Nacktheit und Scham. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp. Vol. 1 of Der Mythos vom Zivilizationprocess. 2nd ed., p202

[28] Miner, H. M. & De Vos, G. (1960) Oasis and Casbah. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Also quoted by Edwardes (1967a:xiii)

[29] Ammar, H. (1954) Growing Up in an Egyptian Village. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul

[30] Ford, C. S. & Beach, F. A. (1951) Patterns of Sexual Behavior. New York: Harper & Row

[31] Pastner, C. M. (1980) Sexual Dichotomization in Society and Culture: The Women of Pandjgur, Baluchistan. Ann Harbor: University Microfilms International; Duerr (1988, I:p202), op.cit.

[32] Delaney, C. (1991) The Seed and the Soil. Berkeley (etc.): University of California Press

[33] Olson, E. A. (1981) Socioeconomic and psychocultural contexts of child abuse and neglect in Turkey, in Korbin, J. (Ed.) Child Abuse and Neglect: Cross-Cultural Perspectives. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, p96-119

[34] Cited by Olson (1981:p108), op.cit.

[35] Olson (1981:p108n), op.cit.

[36] Cited by Olson (1981:p108), op.cit.

[37] Op.cit.

[38] Op.cit.

[39] Kasriel, M. ([1990]) Libes Femmes du Haute-Atlas? Paris: L'Armattan

[40] Mernissi, F. ([1985]) Beyond the Veil. London: Al Saqi. 2nd rev. ed.

[41] Murray, S. O. (1987) The Mamlukes, in Murray, S. O. (Ed.) Cultural Diversity and Homosexualities. New York: Irvington, p213-9; Greenberg, D. F. (1988) The Construction of Homosexuality. Chicago & London: Chicago University Press, p31

[42] Hardman, P. (1990) Homoaffectionism. San Fransisco: ONE Institute Press/ GLB Press; Williams, W. L. (1998) Social acceptance of same-sex relationships in families: models from other cultures, in D'Augelli, A. & Patterson, Ch. (Eds.) Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Identities in Families. New York: Oxford University Press; Williams, W. L. (2000) Reply to Kirkpatrick, Current Anthropol 41,3:403-5

[43] Benjamin, H. & Masters, R. E. L. (1964) Prostitution and Morality. New York: Julian Press

[44]Op.cit.

[45] Rouadjia, A. (1991) La prostitution dans les villes, in Lacoste, C. & Lacoste, Y. (Eds.) L'État du Maghreb. Paris: La Decouverte, p237-8. See also Hanlo, J. (1971) Go to the Mosk. Amsterdam: Van Oorschot. More secondary reading in Mrabet, M. (1993) Chocolate Creams and Dollars, transl. from Arabic by Paul Bowles. New York: Inanout Press

[46] Op.cit.

[47] Roth, N. (1982) "Deal gently with the young man": love of boys in medieval Hebrew poetry of Spain, Speculum 57:20-51; Roth, N. (1984) "My Beloved is Like a Gazelle", imagery of the beloved boy in Hebrew Religious Poetry, Hebrew Ann Rev 8:143-65; Roth, N. (1989) The care and feeding of Gazelles: Medieval Arabic and Hebrew Love poetry, in Lazar, M. & Lacy, N. J. (Eds.) Poetics of Love in the Middle Ages. Fairfax, Va.: G. Mason University Press, p95-118 ; Roth, N. (1991) "Fawn of my delights": boy-love in Hebrew and Arabic verse, in Salisbury, J. (Ed.) Sex in the Middle Ages: A Book of Essays. New York: Garland, p157-72; Roth, N. (1994) Boy-love in Medieval Arabic Verse, Paidika 3,3:12-7; Garcia Gomez, E. (Ed., 1975) In Praise of Boys: Moorish Poems from Al-Andalus. Transl. from Spanish by Erskine Lane. San Francisco: Gay Sunshine Press; Al-Nawadji, M. / Khawam, R. R. (Ed., 1989) La Prairie des Gazelles : Éloge des Beaux Adolescents. Paris: Phébus; Al Sharif Al Radi / Wormhoudt, A. (transl., 1988) Selection from the Diwan of Al Aharif Abu al Hasan Muhammad al radi al Musi. [Oskaloosa, IO]: William Penn College; Schippers, A. (1983) Knaapjes-Poëzie in de Arabisch- en Hebreeuws-Andalusische Literatuur (11e en 12e eeuw). Amsterdam: [s.n.] Speech delivered to Colloquium Vriendjespoëtiek, Nov. 3 [avail. from Homodok, Amsterdam]. Cf. Bürgel, J. Ch. (1992) Abglanz Gottes oder Fallstrick Satans? : Zum homoerotischen Element in der Dichtung des islamitischen Mittelalters, in Stemmler, Th. (Ed.) Homoerotische Lyrik, 6. Kolloquium der Forschungsstelle für Europäische Lyrik des Mittelalters. Mannheim: Narr, p103ff

[48] Haas, V. (1999) Babylonischer Liebesgarten. München: Beck

[49] Schild, M. (1985) De Citadel van Integriteit. Doctoral Dissertation, Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht, the Netherlands; Schild, M. (1988) The irresistible beauty of boys: middle eastern attitudes about boy-love, Paidika 1,3:37-48

[50] Farah (1984:p38-9)

[51] Mukhtar, M. H. (?) Tarbiyat-e-Aulad aur Islam [The Upbringing of Children in Islam]. dar-ut-Tasneef, Jamiat ul-Uloom Il-Islamiyyah allama Banuri Town Karachi. English translation by Rafiq Abdur Rahman. Transl. esp. Chapter 11: Responsibility for Sexual Education.

[52] Riyad-us-Saliheen, Book 17, Chapter 290: Prohibition of Gazing at Women and Beardless Handsome Boys Except in Exigency.Compiled by Al-Imam Abu Zakariya Yahya bin Sharaf An-Nawawi Ad-Dimashqi [undated; http://www.wponline.org/vil/hadeeth/riyad/17/chap290.htm]

[53] Another translation [Rev. J.M. Rodwell, M.A.] provides the following phrases: "[…] youths shall go round among them beautiful as imbedded pearls" / "Aye-blooming youths go round among them. When thou lookest at them thou wouldest deem them scattered pearls".

[54] as-Sulami, Dhikr an-niswa al-muta 'abbidat as sufiyyat translated by Rkia E. Cornell, Early Sufi Women. Louisville, KY: Fons Vitae, 1999, p78-9

[55] Cited in Pierce, L. P. (1997) Seniority, sexuality, and social order: the vocabulary of gender in early modern Ottoman society, in Zilfi, M. C. (Ed.) Women in the Ottoman Empire. Leiden [etc.] [Holland]: Brill, p169-96

[56] Rowson, E. K. (1991) The Categorization of Gender and Sexual Irregularity in Medieval Arabic Vice Lists, in Epstein, J. & Straub, K. (Eds.) Body Guards: The Cultural Politics of Ambiguity. New York & London: Routledge, p50-79

[57] Dunne, B. W. (1998) Power and Sexuality in the Middle East, Middle East Rep [MERIP] 28(206),1:8-12 [

[http://www.merip.org/mer/mer206/bruce.htm]. Cf. Dunne, B. W. (1990) Homosexuality in the Middle East: An Agenda for Historical Research, Arab Studies Quart 12,3-4:55-82

[58] Burton, R. F. (1885-9) The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night. Vol. 10, p178-219. Cf. Stonefield, H. (1966) Burton's terminal essay, Int J Greek Love 1,2:3-12; Dynes, W. R. (1990) Sotadic zone, in Dynes, W. R. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Homosexuality. New York & London: Garland Publ. Inc. Vol II, p1235-6

[59] Drake, J. (1966) "Le Vice" in Turkey, Int J Greek Love 1:13-27. Reprinted in Dynes, W. R. & Donaldson, S. (Ed.s, 1992) Asian Homosexuality. New York & London: Garland, p27-41

[60] Drew, D. & Drake, J. (1969) Boys for Sale. New York: Brown Book Co.

[61] Browney, E. G. (1893) A Year Among the Persians. London: Black. Cf. Puterbaugh, G. (1990) Iran, in Dynes, W. R. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Homosexuality. New York & London: Garland Publ. Inc.Vol I, p612-3

[62] Cline, W. B. (1936) Notes on the People of Siwa and EI Garah in the Libyan Desert. Menasha, Wisconsin: G. Banta

[63] Abdallah, M. (1917) Siwan Customs. Cambridge, Mass. Vol. I, p7

[64] Adam, B. D. (1990) Siwa Oasis, in Dynes, W. R. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Homosexuality. New York & London: Garland Publ. Inc.Vol II, p1198

[65] Gopal, K. (1969) Schon im Kama Sutra, in Italiaander (Ed.) Weder Krankheit noch Verbrechen. Hamburg: Gala

[66] Reynolds, M. (2002) Kandahar's Lightly Veiled Homosexual Habits, Los Angeles Times, April 3

[67] Gunther, J. (1939) Inside Asia. New York: Harper

[68] Baldauf, I. (1988) Die Knabeliebe in Mittelasien. Berlin: Das Arabische Buch; Baldauf, I. (1990) Boylove, folksong, and literature in Central Asia, Paidika 2,2:12-31. See also Foster, S. W. (1990) Afghanistan, in Dynes, W. R. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Homosexuality. New York & London: Garland Publ. Inc. Vol I, p17-9

[69] Or bacaboazlik, bacaboyi. Cf. Murray, S. O. (1997) The will not to know, in Murray, S. O. & Roscoe, W. (1997) Islamic Homosexualities. New York: New York University Press, p14-54, at p32

[70] Jazayery, M. A. (1973) Ahmad Kasravi and the Controversy over Persian Poetry. 1. Kasravi's Analysis of Persian Poetry, Int J Middle East Studies 4,2:190-203

[71] Patai, R. (1960) Family, Love and the Bible. London: MacGibbon & Kee

[72] Von Hahn, J. G. ([1969]) Albanesische Studien, in Italiaander, R. (Ed.) Weder Krankheit Noch Verbrechen. Hamburg: Gala, p89-91. Von Hahn's two-volume work was published in 1853/4. Cf. Näcke, P. (1908) Über Homosexualität in Albanien, Jb Sex Zwischenst 9:325-37. Reprinted as "On homosexuality in Albania", Int J Greek Love 1,1:39-47. See also Carpenter, E. (1908) Ioläus: An Anthology of Friendship, 1917 ed., New York: Mitchell Kennerley,citing Buckingham, J. S. (1829) Travels in Assyria, Media and Persia. London: Colburn & Bentley

[73] Schuyler, Eu. (1876-7) Turkistan: Notes of a Journey in Russian Turkistan, Khokand, Bukhara, and Kuldja. 2 vols. New York: Scibner, Armstrong / London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searles & Rivington

[74] Brongersma, E. (1987) Jongensliefde, Deel 1. Amsterdam: SUA. See also Brongersma, E. (1986) Jongensliefde in de Arabische cultuur, OK Mag [Dutch] 3:19-22

[75] Murray, S. O. & Roscoe, W. (1997) Islamic Homosexualities. New York: New York University Press. Cf. Murray, S. O. (1995) Southwest Asian and North African terms for homosexual roles, Arch Sex Behav 24,6:623-9

[76] Danby, H. (1933) The Mishnah. London: Oxford University Press

[77] Duncan, J. & Derrett, M. (1974) The disposal of virgins, Man, New Series, 9,1:23-30

[78] Maimonides, M. ([1972]) Book of Women: Code of Maimonides Book IV. Transl. I. Klein. New Haven, London: Yale University Press

[79] Edwardes, A. (1967a) Erotica Judaica. New York: The Julian Press, Inc. See also page xiii

[80] Rush, F. (1980) The Best Kept Secret: Sexual Abuse of Children. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall

[81] Rahman, F. (1980) A Survey of Modernization of Muslim Family Law, Int J Middle East Stud 11,4:451-65

[82] Patai, R. ([1962]) Sitte und Sippe in Bibel und Orient. [German transl.] Frankfurt am Main: Ner-Tamid Verlag

[83] El Masry, Y. (1962) Le Drame Sexuel de la Femme dans l'Orient Arabe. Paris: Lafont

[84] Englisch, P. (1932) Sittengeschichte des Orients. Vienna [etc.]: Phaidon-Verlag

[85] Motzki, H. (1987) Muslimische Kinderehen in Palästina während des 17. Jahrhunderts. Fatawa als Quellen zur Sozialgeschichte, Welt des Islams 27,1-3:82-90

[86] Lamdan, R. (1996) Child marriage in Jewish society in the eastern Mediterranean during the sixteenth century, Mediterr Hist Rev 11,1:37-59

[87] Timm, K. & Aalami, S. (1976) Die Muslimische Frau Zwischen Tradition und Fortschritt. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, p144/n25

[88] Atiya, N. (1982) Khul-Khaal: Five Egyptian Women Tell their Stories. Transl. from the Arab original. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, p5. Cf. Ayrout, H. H. (1938) Moeurs et Coutumes des Fellahs. Translated 1963/1968 as The Egyptian Peasant. Boston: Beacon Press, p118. Ayrout states that "both families concerned often connive to break it [the marriage law]".

[89] Anderson, J. N. D. (1971) The Role of Personal Statutes in Social Development in Islamic Countries, Comparat Stud Soc & Hist 13,1:16-31

[90] Cf. Patai, R. (1973) The Arab Mind. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, p139: "[The Moroccan woman] has been taught to believe from childhood that the mere sight of a woman is sufficient toarouse a man sexually, and only external circumstances can prevent hom from having his will on her".

[91] For the Arabs, see Granqvist, Marriage Conditions, Part. I, p38 [orig. footnote]

[92] Meeker, M. E. (1976) Meaning and Society in the near East: Examples from the Black Sea Turks and the Levantine Arabs (II), Int J Middle East Stud 7,3:383-422

[93] Thomas, B. (1932) Anthropological Observations in South Arabia, J Royal Anthropol Instit Great Britain & Ireland 62:83-103, at p90

[94] Khalaf, S. (1965) Prostitution in a Changing Society. Beirut: Khayats

[95] Wikan, U. (1982) Behind the Veil in Arabia. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press

[96] Dorsky, S. J. (1981) Women's Lives in a Yemeni Highlands Town. Dissertation, Case Western Reserve University

[97] Durham, M. E. (1910) High Albania and its Customs in 1908, J Royal Anthropol Instit Great Britain & Ireland 40:453-72

[98] Stirling, P. (1965) Turkish Village. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, p180

[99] Yasa, I. (1957) Hasanoglan. Socio-economic Structure of a Turkish Village. Ankara

[100] http://www.ageofconsent.com/ageofconsent.htm, Nov. 2001

[101] ECPAT International, Online Database [http://www.ecpat.net/eng/Ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp]

[102] http://www.ilga.org/Information/Legal_survey/middle_east/world_legal_survey__middle_east.htm

[103] Graupner, H. (2000) Sexual consent: The criminal law in Europe and overseas, Arch Sex Behav 29,5:415-61

[104] "[…] all sexual relations, not restricted to sexual intercourse, outside of marriage are strictly prohibited according to the Islamic Penal Code. […] there does not appear to be specific provisions with regard to child sexual abuse. The Iranian Government sets the legal age for marriage at 18 years. The US State Department, however, writes that the minimum legal age for marriage is nine".

[105] "Sexual relations outside of marriage are prohibited. The age of marriage is in general 18 years according to the Iraqi Family Law, but a girl older than 15 years may marry with court permission".

[106] "The relevant age for sexual protection is 15 years in Jordan. Sexual intercourse and other sexual assaults against girls or boys under this age are prohibited even if the child consents and no force is used. With regard to girls this age limit is raised to 18 years if the assaulter is a close relative, legal guardian, a person entrusted with her care, or a minister of religion among others".

[107] "There does not appear to be a specific age of consent to sexual activities in Kuwait but a rape statute criminalises any man that knowingly has sexual intercourse with a girl under 15 years of age regardless of whether force, threat or fraud is used".

[108] "The Lebanese Penal Code includes provisions that protect children under 15 years of age against all kinds of sexual abuse. This age limit is raised to 18 years if the perpetrator is a parent, legal guardian or entrusted with supervision over the child".

[109] The Penal Code "deals with sexual intercourse with persons under 15 years of age or with mentally or physically challenged persons. There is no requirement that force, threat or coercion be used. It is unclear if the article applies to boys and underage girls within marriage".

[110] The age of consent for marriage provided by the Child Law no.12 is sixteen.

[111] Article 101 states: "Committing violent unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl aged between fourteen (14) and eighteen (18), having reached the age of puberty, is punished by an imprisonment term varying from five (5) to ten (10) years"

[112] There is also a child pornography law (article 228, Criminal Code), but no specific laws on child prostitution.

[113] Moghadam, V. M. (1995) Gender and Revolutionary Transformation: Iran 1979 and East Central Europe 1989, Gender & Society 9,3:328-58, at p342

[114] Under said law, every sane person committing the offence of Zina, whether with consent or without consent is liable for the offence. However, the punishment provided for both cases is different.

[115] Ajzenstadt, M. & Cavaglion, G. (2002) The sexual body of the young Jew as an arena of ideological struggle, 1821-1948, Symbolic Interaction 25,1:93-116. Cf. Cavaglion, G. (2000) [Childhood as a social construction: The case of sex education in the Jewish settlement of the early 20th century], Megamwt [Hebrew] 40,3:531-48

[116] Epstein, L. M. (1948) Sex Laws and Customs in Judaism. 1967 ed. New York: KTAV Publ. House

[117] Couchard, F. (1987) La parole des mères, parole structurante pour les filles dans la culture musulmane, Perspect Psychia 26,8, Pt 3:198-206

[118] Follmer, W. (1997) Das Leben der Frau in arabisch-islamischen Landern. Betrachtungen eines Frauenarztes, Curare 11:21-8

[119] Halstead, J. M. (1997) Muslims and sex education, J Moral Educ 26,3:317-30. See further Ashraf, S. A. (1996) Editorial: the Islamic concept of sex as the basis of sex education, Muslim Educ Quart 13:1-3; Sarwar, G. (1992) Sex Education: The Muslim Perspective. London: Muslim Educational Trust

[120] Van Gelder, P. (1993) Tussen Schaamte en Mannelijkheid. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis [Dutch]

[121] Mukhtar, M. H. (?) Tarbiyat-e-Aulad aur Islam [The Upbringing of Children in Islam]. dar-ut-Tasneef, Jamiat ul-Uloom Il-Islamiyyah allama Banuri Town Karachi. English transl. by Rafiq Abdur Rahman. Transl. esp. Chapter 11: Responsibility for Sexual Education.

[122] Beck, D. F. (1957) The Changing Moslem Family of the Middle East, Marriage & Fam Living 19,4:340-7

[123] Meinardus, O. (1968) The ethical issue of the hymenorophy: a study on Middle East sexual morality, Acta Ethnograph Budapest 17,3/4:369-73

[124] Mernissi, F. (1982) Virginity and patriarchy, Women's Stud Int Forum 5,2:183-91

[125] Kandela, P. (1996) Egypt's trade in hymen repair, Lancet, Jun 8;347(9015):1615

[126] Jehl, D. (1999) The Fervor: Islam's Teachings and Chastity, The New York Times on the Web, June 20; Goodwin (1994), cit. infra

[127] [Various authors] (1998) Should doctors reconstruct the vaginal introitus of adolescent girls to mimic the virginal state? BMJ, Feb 7;316(7129):[459-62]; Usta, I. (2000) Hymenorrhaphy: what happens behind the gynaecologist's closed door? J Med Ethics 26,3:217-8

[128] www.islamset.com/bioethics/vision/salami.html, May 2002

[129] El Saadawi, N. (1980) Tschador: Frauen im Islam. London. German Ed.

[130] "In Zawiya, various forms of homoerotic play, including nude swimming and group masturbation, were reported as fairly common for boys in the early teen years. Older males sometimes engage in homosexual acts, sometimes including interfemoral and anal intercourse, but these young people do not think of themselves as homosexuals but rather as going through a phase. Homosexuality in adulthood seems to be rare and is still considered shameful by most Moroccans. Separate terms are used for the partner who plays the active and the passive role in intercourse, and the term for the passive participant (zamel) is an insult and a frequently seen graffito on walls near Moroccan schoolyards. In contrast to what we heard from young men, most young women in Zawiya seemed never to have considered the possibility of female homosexuality, and both sexes stated that lesbian relationships were very rare".

[131] "This topic was very difficult to discuss with young people in Zawiya, however, and we concluded that masturbation is viewed more negatively in this traditional Muslim community than in most American groups. A few boys and young men admitted to masturbating, and estimated that most males did so, but no young women either admitted or described female masturbation. Generally, we were struck by the much greater range and frequency of sexual experiences reported by males, although both sexes were fascinated by romantic images".

[132] Davis, D. A., & Davis, S. S. (1993) Sexual values in a Moroccan Town, in Lonner, W. J. & Malpass, R. S. (Eds.) Psychology and Culture. Needham Heights: Allyn & Bacon, p225-30. Quoted from version at http://www.haverford.edu/psych/ddavis/sexvalue.html. See also Davis, S. S., & Davis, D. A. (1993) Dilemmas of adolescence: Courtship, sex, and marriage in Moroccan town, in Bowen, D. L. (Ed.) Everyday Life in the Contemporary Muslim Middle East. Indiana University Press, p84-90

[133] Naamane-Guessous, S. (1988) Au-Delà de Toute Pudeur. Casablanca : Sodon. 1990 Dutch translation: Achter de Schermen van de Schaamte. Amsterdam: Dekker

[134] Makhlouf Obermeyer, C. (2000) Sexuality in Morocco: changing context and contested domain, Culture, Health & Sex 2,3:239-54

[135] Dialmy, A. (1997) Jeunesse, SIDA et Islam au Maroc: Les Comportements Sexuels. Report to the Ford Foundation. See also Dialmy, A. (1998) Moroccan youth, sex and Islam, Middle East Report 206; 28,1:8-11

[136] Eppink, A. (1976) Seksualiteit en Verliefdheid bij Marokkaanse Jongens en Meisjes. Amsterdam: Averroes Stichting [Dutch]; Eppink, A. (1977) Familierelaties en Persoonlijkheidsontwikkeling in Marokko. Dutch Doctoral Diss., Averroès Stichting; Eppink, A. (1992) Moroccan boys and sex, in Schmitt, A. & Sofer, J. (Eds.) Sexuality and Eroticism among Males in Moslem Society. New York: Harrington Park Press, p33-41

[137] Crapanzano, V. (1980) Tuhami, Portrait of a Moroccan. Chicago: Chicago University Press

[138] Duvert, T. (1976) Journal d'un Innocent. Paris: Les Éditions de Minuit. Quoted by Eppink (1977:p125), op.cit.

[139] Pascon, P. & Bentahar, T. (1971) Ce que disent 296 jeunes ruraux, in Bentahar, M. et al. (Eds.) Études Sociologiques sur le Maroc. Rabat/Chellah, p145-286. See p217-21

[140] Webster, Sh. K. (1982) Women, Sex, and Marriage in Moroccan Proverbs, Int J Middle East Stud 14,2:173-84

[141] Davis, S. S. & Davis, P. A. (1989) Adolescence in a Moroccan Town. New Brunswick & London: Rutgers UP

[142] Op.cit.

[143] Davis, S. S. (1983) Patience and Power. Cambridge, Mass.: Schenkman

[144] Rassam, A. (1980) Women and Domestic Power in Morocco, Int J Middle East Studies 12,2:171-9, at p174

[145] Pels, T. (1994) Opvoeding in Marokkaanse gezinnen, in Pels, T. (Ed.) Opvoeding in Chinese, Marokkaanse en Surinaams-Creoolse Gezinnen. Rotterdam [Holland]: ISEO, p81-131. See p96-7

[146] Serhane, A. (1983) Les Répresentations Sexuelles chez le Jeune Marocain issu du Milieu Traditionnel. Thesis, Toulouse

[147] Bartels, E. (1993) "Een Dochter is Beter dan Duizend Zonen". Dutch Dissertation, Free University Amsterdam

[148] Hendrickx, K., Lodewijckx, E., Van Royen, P. & Denekens, J. (2002) Sexual behaviour of second generation Moroccan immigrants balancing between traditional attitudes and safe sex, Patient Educ & Counsel 47,2:89-94

[149] Miner, H. M. & De Vos, G. (1960) Oasis and Casbah: Algerian Culture and Personality in Change. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press

[150] Bachir Bouiadjara, R. (1985) Contribution à l'Étude de la Sexualité de l'Adolescent(e). Thesis, Lille

[151] Hanoteau, A. & Letourneaux, A. (1893) La Kabylie et les Coutumes Kabyles. Paris. Vol. ii, p149; Parsons, E. C. (1906) The Family. New York & London: Putman, p40

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[180] A reference to "mental" cleanliness is omitted here.

[181] General remarks on sexual development in Maruani, G. (1983) L'enfant du kibboutz, Genitif 5,4:66-73. See also Kaffman, M. (1977) Sexual standards and behavior of the kibbutz adolescent, Am J Orthopsychia 47,2:207-17; Kaffman, M. (1962) Hashtana shelo midaat bekerev yaldey kibuts [Unconscious enuresis among kibbutz children], Harefuah 63:251-3 [under the age of seven masturbation common].

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[232] Piggot, J. (1874) Persia: Ancient and Modern. London: Henry S. King & Co. Aghajanian: Although such young marriages have not totally disappeared, legal and actual age of marriage has increased significantly compared to the historical description of child marriages. Both legal changes and social changes have influenced the increase in the age of marriage. A major development regarding the timing of marriage was secularization of the marital ceremony and civil registration of vital events. For many centuries marriage was basically a religious act and was recorded by a local religious trustee. In 1930, along with other changes introduced by the modernizing government of Reza Shah, the recording of vital events (birth, marriage, divorce, and death) became secular. Also age of marriage was brought into the domain of civil law and a minimum of age of marriage of 15 years for girls and 18 years for boys was prescribed by law which went into effect for the first time in 1935 (Momeni, 1972). Article 1041 of the Iranian Civil code, which went into effect in 1935, states "the marriage of females before reaching the full age of 15 and that of males before reaching the full age of 18 is forbidden. Nevertheless, in cases where proper reasons justify it, upon the proposal of the Public Prosecutor and by sanction of the courts exemption from age restriction can be accorded. But in any case exemption from age restriction cannot be granted to females below full age of 13 and for males below the full age of 15". The law stipulated that all individuals who are instrumental in arranging marriages below the legal minimum age may receive penalties if convicted. Aghajanian, A. (Dec, 2001) Family and Family Change in Iran. Paper to be published as a chapter in Diversity in Families: A Global Perspective edited by Charles B. Hennon and Timothy H. Brubaker, Belmont, Ca: Wadsworth Publishing Company, forthcoming; Momeni, D. A. (1972) The Difficulties of Changing the Age at Marriage in Iran, J Marriage & Fam 34,3:545-51

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[241] Cf. Kian, A. (1997) Women and Politics in Post-Islamist Iran: The Gender Conscious Drive to Change, Br J Middle Eastern Studies 24,1:75-96, at p77

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[251] Longva, A. Ng. (1993) Kuwaiti Women at a Crossroads: Privileged Development and the Constraints of Ethnic Stratification, Int J Middle East Stud 25,3:443-56

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[253] Altorki, S. (1986) Women in Saudi Arabia. New York: Columbia University Press

[254] Cole, D. P. (1977) The household, marriage and family life among the Al Murrah nomads of Saudi Arabia, in Ibrahim, S. E. & Hopkins, N. S. (Eds.) Arab Society in Transition: A Reader. [Cairo]: American University in Cairo, p88-106. Reprinted in ibid., Arab Society: Social Science Perspectives, 1985, p196-211

[255] Jacobus X ([1893] 1898) L'Amour aux Colonies. Paris : I. Liseux. 3 vols. Second and enlarged english ed., Untrodden Fields of Anthropology (etc.). Paris: Librairie de Medecine, Folklore et Anthropologie. 2 vols.

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[265] McCarthy, J. (1997) Bahrain, in Francoeur, R. T. (Ed.) The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality. New York: Continuum, Vol. 1. Quoted from the online edition

[266] Allegedly, "The incidence of child sexual abuse in Bahrain has not been documented in any published reference [and] [p]edophilia has not been studied. […] Bahraini pedophiles paying boys for sex both in Bahrain and abroad are known, and such cases are discussed openly by older members of the local community. Groups of older boys are sometimes involved in rapes of young boys, however this data are not reported".

[267] Wikan, U. (1982) Behind the Veil in Arabia. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press

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[278] Hudson, A. E. (1938) Kazak Social Structure. New Haven: Yale University Press

[279] Cit. Hudson

[280] See also Levshin, A. (1840) Déscriptions des Hordes [etc.], p358

[281] Agadjanian, V. & Qian, Zh. (1997) Ethnocultural Identity and Induced Abortion in Kazakstan, Stud Fam Plann 28,4:317-29

Middle-East, Near-Asia, Supra-Saharan Africa and the Islamic[1] World

Historical Matters [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]