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Society & Culture

Teaching Iranians About Sexually Transmitted Diseases

October 13, 2016
Shima Shahrabi
4 min read
Illustration from Control STD: “Superstition or Fact?”
Illustration from Control STD: “Superstition or Fact?”
Illustration from Control STD: "Consult our Physicians"
Illustration from Control STD: "Consult our Physicians"
Illustration from Control STD: “Superstition or Fact?”
Illustration from Control STD: “Superstition or Fact?”

Arezoo is like many Iranian women. For years, she experienced pain during sexual intercourse, but she has never spoken to a doctor about it. “I knew so little about sex,” she says, “that I thought the pain was part of sex and that all women experienced it.”

But she is not the only one who thinks like this. One day, she overcame her shyness enough to ask her older sister about, and she received a similar answer: “Well, there is always a little bit of pain when you start.”

“Our problem with sexually-transmitted diseases and women is that they come to us very late,” says Dr. Najieh Elahi, a gynecologist. “And those who have extramarital sexual relations often never see a doctor until their illness has become serious.” Arezoo is a case in point. She never asked a question about it because she imagined that all women experienced pain through intercourse.

But recently, she came across the website Control STD, a site a group of young Iranians launched at their own expense to raise awareness about sexual issues and sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs.

Yasi Ashki is one of the founders of the website. When she studied in the US, she soon noticed that her understanding of STDs was far below that of her classmates. “A week before the classes started, they gave us a tour of the university,” she told the newspaper Shargh. “In the lobby of the university clinic, I came across a big bowl filled with condoms. There were brochures hanging under a sign labeled, “STD Pamphlets.” I was only familiar with AIDS, and did not know that there were other sexually-transmitted diseases. This gave me a big shock. I took the pamphlets home and for three days my sister and I studied them. I constantly asked myself why Iranian women knew nothing about these diseases. Later, I learned that Iranian men were in the same situation.”

That was when she thought about launching a website to address the problem.

Where Google Cannot Find It

Ashki says that searching on Google was completely useless because there is almost no authoritative Persian-language information about STDs online. So Ashki and her colleagues started to translate information for their own online library. It was by coming across this virtual library that Arezoo learned that it was not natural to feel pain during intercourse.

The library is categorized for four groups of people: Women, men, couples, and parents. The articles cover a wide range of subjects including sexual relations in general, sexually transmitted diseases, and high-risk behaviors.

When you open a page on the Control STD website, a frame with a drawing of a lady pops up that says: “If you have a question about sexually-transmitted diseases, give it to us anonymously and our specialist doctors will answer you in less than 24 hours.”

“Dr. Taj” is the pseudonym used by the 40 specialists who work with the site voluntarily. Their answers are posted on the Instagram page of this composite doctor. The answers often put people’s minds at rest, but the specialists can also let people know if they should go for medical tests.

Dr. Narges Dorratoltaj is a general practitioner who works as a volunteer for Control STD. She says the site has received around 12,000 questions about HPV (Human Papillomavirus). She says about half the questions she and her colleagues answer are about Genital Warts

Dorratoltaj has noticed some differences between the men and women using the service

“Women are usually those who have been too shy to see a doctor,” she says. “Men usually ask questions when they have engaged in high-risk behavior and are worried about STDs, and especially HIV.”

Sometimes the questions reveal a painful background. “Hello Ms. Doctor,” says one such question. “I have had genital warts for about 10 years, but I have yet to seek treatment. I got warts after I was sexually abused when I was 11. They did not bother me until they got larger. I wanted to know the best way to treat them and how much treatment costs.”

Answering these questions is not difficult for the specialists, but the costs for the patients can be considerable. The specialists do their best to answer all queries and guide users through their Instagram page.

As of now, Iran’s censors have not moved to block their Instagram account, and it remains accessible to the Iranian public.

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