“We Don’t Talk About These Things”: Reproductive Health and Sexuality of Young People in Egypt

Ghada Barsoum, Population Council
Shereen El Feki, American University in Cairo

Egypt is experiencing a youth bulge. The economic and political implications of this youth bulge have been widely discussed, yet how these factors are influencing the sexual and reproductive lives of young people has yet to be explored in detail. This paper builds on data from the Survey on Young People in Egypt, the first national youth survey of its scale in Egypt, covering a sample of 15,000 young people. The Survey gauged the attitudes and behaviors of young people aged 10-29 across a wide range of subjects including marriage, sexuality and media. The paper will address how young people are managing their intimate lives at a time when economic forces are producing a significant delay in the age of marriage, which is the only socially sanctioned context for sexuality and reproduction. Analysis of survey data is supplemented by in-depth interviews with young people.