IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v129y2021ics0190740921002814.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“If we didn't talk, we would be like ostriches burying our heads in the sand”: Attitudes toward sexuality, gender, and sex education among child protection social workers in Egypt

Author

Listed:
  • Riad, Germeen
  • Forden, Carie

Abstract

The incidence of sexual and gender-based violence, including child marriage, female genital mutilation/cutting, virginity testing, sexual harassment, and child sexual abuse, is high in Egypt. Child protection social workers must deal with children who have been victims of such practices and must provide the sex education that is necessary for its prevention, but the “culture of silence” that surrounds sexuality in Egypt may make this difficult. A survey of 86 child protection social workers and 11 semi-structured interviews were conducted in order to better understand how they viewed and dealt with sexuality, sexual and reproductive health education, gender roles, and sexual and gender-based violence. Analysis of both the survey and interviews revealed that most of the research participants strongly believed in the importance of sexuality education. However, they also held misconceptions about masturbation, menstruation, men’s ability to control sexual desire, virginity and sensitivity of female reproductive organs, as well as gender stereotypes that supported gender-based violence and gender inequality. Based on these results, recommendations are made for culturally appropriate training to build social workers’ capacity for addressing sexuality and gender issues in their child protection practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Riad, Germeen & Forden, Carie, 2021. "“If we didn't talk, we would be like ostriches burying our heads in the sand”: Attitudes toward sexuality, gender, and sex education among child protection social workers in Egypt," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:129:y:2021:i:c:s0190740921002814
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106205
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740921002814
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106205?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yasmin Mohamed & Kelly Durrant & Chelsea Huggett & Jessica Davis & Alison Macintyre & Seta Menu & Joyce Namba Wilson & Mary Ramosaea & Michael Sami & Dani J Barrington & Donna McSkimming & Lisa Natoli, 2018. "A qualitative exploration of menstruation-related restrictive practices in Fiji, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(12), pages 1-19, December.
    2. Aparna Mitra & Pooja Singh, 2007. "Human Capital Attainment and Gender Empowerment: The Kerala Paradox," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 88(5), pages 1227-1242, December.
    3. Harmon-Darrow, Caroline & Burruss, Karen & Finigan-Carr, Nadine, 2020. "“We are kind of their parents”: Child welfare workers’ perspective on sexuality education for foster youth," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Combs, Katie Massey & Cook Lee, Mackenzie & Ramseyer Winter, Virginia & Taussig, Heather, 2022. "Sexual and reproductive health protective factors among adolescents with child welfare involvement," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    2. Silvia Castro & Kristina Czura, 2021. "Social Norms and Misinformation: Experimental Evidence on Learning about Menstrual Health Management in Rural Bangladesh," CESifo Working Paper Series 9081, CESifo.
    3. Greene, Alison & Korchmaros, Josephine D., 2022. "Engaging parents and caregivers of system-involved youth in a sexual health intervention," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    4. Caroline Mtaita & Elvis Safary & Katanta Simwanza & Rose Mpembeni & Samuel Likindikoki & Albrecht Jahn, 2023. "Knowledge, Implementation, and Gaps of Gender-Based Violence Management Guidelines among Health Care Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(7), pages 1-12, April.
    5. Finigan-Carr, Nadine M. & Craddock, Jaih B. & Johnson, Tonya, 2021. "Predictors of condom use among system-involved youth: The importance of Sex Ed," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    6. Prévost-Lemire, Madeleine & Paquette, Geneviève & Lanctôt, Nadine, 2021. "Trauma symptoms as factors associated with early motherhood among young women who had contact with child protective services," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    7. Castro, Silvia & Czura, Kristina, 2021. "Social Norms and Information in Menstrual Health Management," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242423, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    8. Onah, Michael Nnachebe & Horton, Susan, 2018. "Male-female differences in households' resource allocation and decision to seek healthcare in south-eastern Nigeria: Results from a mixed methods study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 84-91.
    9. Czura, Kristina & Menzel, Andreas & Miotto, Martina, 2024. "Improved menstrual health and the workplace: An RCT with female Bangladeshi garment workers," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    10. Vinoj Abraham, 2012. "The Deteriorating Labour Market Conditions and Crime: An Analysis of Indian States during 2001-2008," Millennial Asia, , vol. 3(2), pages 207-231, July.
    11. Ross, Christina & Kools, Susan & Laughon, Kathryn, 2020. "“It was only me against the world.” Female African American Adolescents’ perspectives on their sexual and reproductive health learning and experiences while in foster care: Implications for positive y," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    12. Ip, Melody W.S. & Manning, Matthew & Wong, Gabriel T.W. & Wong, Dennis S.W., 2020. "Exploring key risk factors of intimate partner violence among chinese college students," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    13. Neethi P, 2010. "Globalisation Lived Locally: New Forms of Control, Conflict and Response Among Labour in Kerala, Examined Through a Labour Geography Lens," Working Papers id:2431, eSocialSciences.
    14. van der Gaag, Renske Sanne & Gisella Gwendolyn Walpot, Mirjam & Boendermaker, Leonieke, 2024. "Professional competencies for sexuality and relationships education in child and youth social care: A scoping review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:129:y:2021:i:c:s0190740921002814. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.