SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – In Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, where talking publicly about sex remains a deep taboo, the Kurdish version of One Million Questions and Answers about Sex has stirred up a controversy, with threats warning the translator to withdraw the book.
“This (book) is a danger to the young boys and girls,” a female user wrote on the Facebook wall of a priest, urging, “You have to speak up about this.”
“Stop! You have followed Satan’s path,” someone else warned translator Sozan Jamal in a message. “You better withdraw the books,” threatened yet another angry Kurd.
Jamal, editor in chief of Zanisti Sardam Magazine, which focuses on science and health issues, translated the book from Arabic; and she is unapologetic.
“I know there isn’t much awareness about sex-related issues in my society. Many divorces and other family issues result from lack of awareness about sex,” she said.
“I will keep writing. My job is to raise awareness,” added Jamal, a 39-year-old science graduate from Salahaddin University who has so far published 19 books, four jointly with other authors.
“I know what my society needs, and I do not listen to threats. I am only examining these issues from a scientific approach,” she explained.
Luqman Ghafoor, Jamal’s husband, wrote in the preface of the book that its purpose was to examine many issues between married couples.
Jamal said that before starting the translation she knew she would face difficulties. “But I also knew there is need for such books. If I do not work on raising awareness, someone else has to,” she stressed.
Regarding fears for her life and the possibility of leaving the Kurdistan Region, Jamal is emphatic: “No, I will not leave the Kurdistan Region, and I will not stop writing. I love my books, and I love to write and give information to the people,” she said.
Some opponents of the translated version of the book change their opinion when they get to know the author of the book: Dr. Fawzieh Al Droai.
The Kuwaiti gynecologist is a well-known personality for viewers of the Arabic Alrai television channel, where she discusses family issues and relationships. She is known for her religious views on these topics, and appears on air in the Islamic hijab.
“There is nothing bad in the book,” said Hama Rasheed Farooq, one of Jamal’s colleagues at the Sardam Publishing House. “The book raises awareness about dishonesty in marriage and relationships. However, when a book is discussed in mosque sermons, the chances of harm to the author multiply dramatically,” he warned.
