"אני אישה מאוד יצרית, ואני אישה מאוד דתית": פרספקטיבות של צעירות דתיות בנוגע למיניותן בבגרות הצעירה

Background: Perceptions of religion may affect young women's sexuality, alongside the influence of other social agents such as parents, the peer group, and the community.Aims: The present qualitative study sought to describe and analyze young religious women's perceptions of their sexuality.Methods: The analysis was based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with 14 young women who attended religious educational institutions, regarding their perceptions of and experiences with sexuality during adolescence and young adulthood. The interviews were analyzed using the qualitative thematic analysis approach.Main findings: For most of the participants, sexual experiences didn't begin with the wedding, and in fact were shaped in early life stages within different spheres of life: the personal space, the interpersonal space, and the public-general space. Concomitantly, sexuality was shaped by a constant internal dialogue with religious-halakhic norms, which functioned as a central context. The religious context created internal challenges and conflicts and, at the same time, sometimes constituted a resilience factor in the process of constructing sexuality.Conclusions and implications for practice/policy: This study brings to the forefront the vital experiences of the young religious women in the field of sexuality, and indicates that even in the absence of sexual intercourse they experience sexual challenges that affect their religious identity and self-image. This study highlights the need for educational and therapeutic discourse that will normalize sexual experiences among adolescents and open discourse about the conflicts that arise.