A drama series that educates the youth about sex is set to hit the screens in Egypt.
MTV Shuga, the award-winning drama series that revolves around sexual behavior among youth and teens, recently announced that it will launch a new localized Egyptian version that will be shot in Arabic.
MTV Shuga, which was launched by Music Television (MTV) in 2009, is widely popular across sub-Saharan Africa.
The soap opera promotes sexual education and is known to contain sexually explicit content, touching on subjects such as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), safe sex, teen pregnancy, as well as family planning and gender-based violence.
MTV Shuga will now get an Egyptian version tailored for the country's audience.
The Egyptian edition, whose title is yet to be revealed, will be shot in Arabic and will become the show's first edition in a language other than English. It is expected to begin airing in 2020.
According to Channel 24, the Egyptian version will tackle important issues relevant to the country's population, including contraception, child marriage, and female genital mutilation.
This comes in line with the series' efforts to expand, having previously shot seasons in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.
Its first season featured Oscar-winning Mexican-Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o.
"By going global with MTV Shuga and bringing this format to new countries, we are committed to challenging misconceptions and inspiring our audiences to talk openly and honestly about their sexual health, while also mobilising them to take action to access the services they need," said Georgia Arnold, MTV International's senior vice president for social responsibility.
As is the case in most Muslim and Arab communities, Egypt lacks adequate sex education, as sex is still considered a taboo subject.
According to VICE, the Egyptian government dropped sex education from schools in 2010.
Results of the widespread sexual illiteracy are quite evident.
In May, Egypt's primary Forensic Medicine Department spokesperson revealed that 70 to 80 percent of all Egyptian women can not reach sexual orgasm due to female genital mutilation.
A recent study revealed that 43 percent of Egyptian men believe that women like being sexually harassed.
Additionally, a 2013 United Nations study found that "virtually all Egyptian women have been victims of sexual harassment," as a whopping 99.3 percent of Egyptian women studied in the report had been sexually harassed.
