Gender: A Website for Sexual and Cybersecurity in Iran

"Leila, after ten years of living in France and studying international law and participating in human rights activities, decides to return to Iran due to her father's illness." Leila, alongside her closest friend Shirin, who is a "sexologist," and Jamshid, a 36-year-old man who "returns to Iran after several years," and Davood, Leila's 25-year-old boyfriend who "has not attended university, is an ordinary photographer, and is not financially well-off": these are the main characters of the stories on the website "Gender." The "Gender" website, launched by Mahsa Alimardani and Kiumars Marzban, aims to educate about "security" through comic strips. In the introduction to this website, it states that its purpose is to address "issues related to internet security and sexual security." They say, "Our main point is how we can use the internet more securely and how we can have healthier relationships." Kiumars Marzban, in response to the question of how sexual security and cybersecurity are related and why both should be addressed together, says: "Sexual security and cybersecurity are not mutually dependent. In fact, I would say they have no relation at all. The only commonality between these two topics is 'security.' The difference is that proxies or security tools protect our privacy, while the use of condoms and sexual education protect our physical and mental health. Another similarity is that neither topic has been adequately addressed in Iran." The Gender website, alongside the main storyline, which narrates Leila's life and particularly her sexual life problems in Iran, also includes sections like a blog and educational content. In the education section, articles regarding cybersecurity and sexual security are available. Mahsa Alimardani, regarding how the narratives of the stories were formed, says: "This is a group project, a joint effort regarding the characters and the theme of the story. The writing of this project is the responsibility of Kiumars Marzban. Marzban is a humorist. He wrote the first six episodes of this series, one of which is published each month. Our illustrator, Vahid, is also involved in the story and creatively follows the relationship between the story and the images." Alimardani states, "One of the team members [of the Gender website] had this idea years ago, even before [the release of the comic strip book] Persepolis, about a program regarding digital rights [in] Iran with a female hero named Sheida. I joined this project with the idea that it comes out at the best time amidst the startup scene in Iran (especially with the presence of powerful and successful women in Iran), and the rest was Kiumars' creativity. Marzban regarding the formation of the website's characters says: "When I took responsibility for this project, the main character was already defined: a character named Sheida with a heroic personality. However, usually in all the works I write, the characters are real people and those around me. This project was the same, and I changed the character Sheida to Leila and added characteristics to it. I gathered different people around me based on the needs of the story... colleagues including Mahsa also consult me in developing the characters." Among the main characters of the story, Leila, Shirin, and Jamshid have all studied abroad, and Davood - who in the first episode we learn has acquired his sexual skills from porn films - is the only main character who has "not gone abroad." Marzban disagrees with the notion that the only negative character in the story has not gone abroad. He says, "As the story progresses, you will realize that this is not the case, and sexual and security problems are not only related to individuals inside Iran... and also Davood's character is by no means negative, and we will get to know him better as the story unfolds... but there is no doubt that sexual education in Europe is significantly better than in Iran... however, these days, thanks to the internet, this situation has somewhat improved... although statistics still report numerous sexual problems in Iran, and the status of cybersecurity is clear." Marzban is pleased with the audience's reactions to this new website. He says: "Fortunately, the feedback was much better than we initially expected... because educational topics, especially of this kind, have their specific audiences. But the feedback was very good, and this project managed to attract the attention of various segments of society." Follow the stories of Leila, Shirin, Davood, and Jamshid at this address. (Radio Farda is not responsible for the content of other websites.)