Gender and sexuality knowledge centers and institutions exist primarily outside the MENA region. Despite the wealth of research conducted about the region, few resources are published in Arabic and pronounced gaps remain undealt with. In addition, most of the produced resources about the MENA region remain within the academic realm, rarely intersecting with, collaborating with, or informing practitioner/activist experience. Movement building, histories of struggles, and field know-how constitute valuable knowledge to be documented and disseminated.
The Gender and Sexuality Resource Center (GSRC) addresses this knowledge gap and creates an alternative site of knowledge production, anchored within a practice-based, field-centered, activist-oriented vision. In doing so, participation in the sexual and bodily rights’ regional and international discourse is broadened to include more diverse actors.
The GSRC was conceived in 2012. Over its program lifetime, the GSRC situates itself as an information hub that brings together practitioners, activists, academics, and professionals, with a firm emphasis on material produced in Arabic.
The GSRC collaborates with research teams to produce large-scale studies that inform policies and further advocacy efforts.