There is a reason that Islam and other hard patriarchies enforce such strict rules about female attire, and where and when they can be with members of the opposite sex. It is because they recognize that any woman can be seduced.

They do not make distinctions between the devout and the not so devout. The rich or the poor. It is all women, because the nature of women pertains to all women.

As standards went in my little corner of the United Arab Emirates that I grew up in, I was one of the most conservative girls present. I never really thought I'd end up being the person I was today. I was in denial about my female nature.

On one hand, the above article is comforting. I'm not alone and nowhere near far gone.

I vacillate between seeing any violations of what Islamic practice should be -- the way I view Islamic practice should be -- as small forgivable slips to great sins that are unforgiveable.

Retrospectively, with the eye of clarity, I can identity how seemingly small steps lead to a slippery slope of worsening behaviour. Does that make the beginning steps morally unconscionable?

It strikes me that faith can fill you with false hubris. Despite all the clues I had to my romantic and even passionate inner nature, I was convinced that no real life male could pose a potential threat. The very lack of experience with sin leads you to a complete naivete of the seduction of its nature. It is so much more difficult to identify the devil seducing you, because you are unaware that you are being sorely tempted and seduced until the very point past surrender. I've managed to avoid a fall from grace, although I've come worryingly close to that fiery flame.

This hubris is generalisable and doesn't just apply to the romantic sphere. 'At risk' situations need to be identified early, before you are even remotely tempted. Where possible, temptation needs to be avoided rather than resisted.

I know now that each situation that carries aloneness and privacy with a man needs to be avoided wherever possible. This could be physical. This could be electronic. I have no illusions about myself any more and no faith in my self-control. While my will is or usually was iron, you can underestimate the erosion to your willpower moments of weakness present to you. It is a work of miracles to have pulled back as much as I have, seeing as how much 'at risk' I've put myself. I'll confess even e-mails from men make me nervous, which has led me to opt for rudeness occasionally as my anxiety about it competed with my desire for discourse.

Yet this realisation of the self has come too late in some ways. The awareness of the real danger a situation carries to you personally only occurs after you've experienced it. It's easier to avoid because you can identify it, harder to avoid because the damage is done and when you're weak a voice whispers: well, what's a little more? You know how good it was. That little taste of food, of drugs, of pleasure. You know you're craving it. What's a little more?

Prevention is easier than the cure in some ways. Yet the need for prevention can only be recognised after learning from the experience of others. Don't just learn from your own mistakes. Learn from everyone else's.