He ordered the two boys to stand against the wall, 20 meters apart."He started beating and slapping me, then going over to my friend and kicking him.He kept asking, 'What did you do with your girlfriend, and when?'" From that day on, Reza associated his natural curiosity with feelings of guilt and shame.An Iranian official has called for the sterilization of female sex workers and homeless drug addicts in Tehran to prevent "social harm." Siavash Shahrivar, head of the Social and Cultural Affairs Department in the Tehran Governorate, said those women should be "convinced" to undergo sterilization."There is a reality, a view, agreed on by many NGOs and the social elite, that if a women is sick, and is also a sex worker and has no place to stay, she should be sterilized with her own approval, and not forcefully," Shahrivar was quoted as saying on January 1 by Iranian media."Our parents never had sex until they married, and their parents never even saw each other before their wedding," says Marjan, 29.

After a brief conversation with the startled teacher, he arrested Reza and his confidant and dragged them out into the school garden for interrogation.Although it is technically illegal for unmarried couples to live under the same roof, he allowed his girlfriend to move in several months ago.The relationship is risky, as the two have no intention of getting married.However, both say this living situation allows them to "feel normal." But not all of the pair's peers have the chance to lead such lifestyles.Sitting with friends in his living room in west Tehran, Reza raises a general question: "What do young children in Iran do when they begin to have questions about sex?