Shereen El Feki (; born 1967 or 1968) is a British journalist and author, most notable for her book ''Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World''.

Biography

El Feki was born in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

to a Welsh mother and an

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

Muslim father. Her mother converted to Islam. Shereen grew up in Canada, visiting her grandmother in Cairo on a regular basis. She graduated from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

with a BSc in

immunology Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of Immune system, immune systems in all Organism, organisms. Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the Physiology, physiological functioning of the immune system in ...

in 1991, then obtaining an

MPhil A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at least ...

and

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in immunology from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Career

El Feki joined ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' as a healthcare correspondent in 1998. After the 2001 WTC terror attacks, she learned Arabic and started to research the Middle East, in particular, the issues of emancipation and women's sexuality, spending much of her time in Egypt. In 2005, she left ''The Economist'', and from 2006 to 2008, she hosted weekly shows, '' People & Power'' and The Pulse, on Al Jazeera International. From 2010 to 2012, she was vice-chairwoman of the United Nations' Global Commission on H.I.V. and the Law. In 2013, El Feki published ''Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World'', which has been translated into Dutch,

Bahasa Indonesia Indonesian (; ) is the official and national language of Indonesia. It is a standardized variety of Malay, an Austronesian language that has been used as a lingua franca in the multilingual Indonesian archipelago for centuries. With over 2 ...

, French and German, with Spanish and Arabic translations forthcoming. "Sex and the Citadel" has been nominated for the

Guardian First Book Award The Guardian First Book Award was a literary award presented by ''The Guardian'' newspaper. It annually recognised one book by a new writer. It was established in 1999, replacing the Guardian Fiction Award or Guardian Fiction Prize that the newspa ...

and The Orwell Prize; El Feki's

TED talk TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

on sexuality in the Arab region has received almost 1 million views since 2014. The book surveys sexual attitudes in Egypt and the wider Arab world, and presents results of her five years of research. She concluded that taboos around sexuality are starting to be challenged in the Arab societies, and that such debates in personal life are key to change in the politics, economics and the broader public sphere. However, she warns that such change comes "by evolution, not revolution" over a generation at least. Since 2022, she has been a member of the Commission for Universal Health convened by

Chatham House The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It ...

and co-chaired by

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

and

Jakaya Kikwete Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete (born 7 October 1950) is a Tanzanian politician who was the List of Presidents of Tanzania, fourth president of Tanzania, in office from 2005 to 2015. Prior to his election as president, he was the Ministry of Foreign Aff ...

.Commission for Universal Health
chathamhouse.org. Accessed 11 December 2023.

References

Sources

External links

Shereen El Feki
on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

*
Global Commission on HIV and the Law

Huffington Post interview
* *
Shereen El Feki: Pop culture in the Arab world (TEDGlobal 2009)
*
Shereen El Feki: A little-told tale of sex and sensuality (TEDGlobal 2013)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Feki, Shereen British women journalists British non-fiction writers Egyptian journalists Egyptian non-fiction writers Egyptian women journalists The Economist people Living people 1960s births Welsh people of Egyptian descent University of Toronto alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge Year of birth missing (living people)