"The values of modesty and privacy around sexual health matters [are] strongly emphasized, and there’s a misconception and conflation of this need to uphold modesty and privacy with shame," Mohajir tells Teen Vogue. "We have instilled shame around talking openly around these topics."

By using their religious-based knowledge, the women are working to demystify sexist values that have been misinterpreted from the religion by supporting their teachings with passages from the Quran and research from Muslim scholars. Sameera Qureshi, director of sexuality education and training at HEART, tells Teen Vogue that Islam has a rich tradition around sexuality.

“A lot of Muslim men are not understanding the Islamic rights women have around sexual pleasure,” she says. “Islam did not use to be like this, shame and taboo, around sexual health.”

The women say that through their work, they are bringing feminism back to the Islam. This is “acknowledging the history and legacy of our ancestors and undoing a lot of the products of colonization,” Sahar Pirzada, HEART programs and outreach manager, tells Teen Vogue. “We don't actually talk about these things in healthy ways.”

One barrier HEART Women & Girls is breaking down is the stereotype that Muslim teens are not having premarital sex. Because some research shows that they are.

Sobia Ali Faisal, currently a lecturer at the University of Prince Edward Island, completed a doctoral paper in 2014 that surveyed 403 Muslims between the ages of 17 and 35 in Canada and the U.S. According to Faisal, it found that more than half of the respondents (221) said they were having sex. Of those 221, 148 said they'd had sex before marriage, and she says this number included both men and women. Faisal’s study examined the attitudes of guilt and anxiety Muslim men and women have toward sex, she tells Teen Vogue.

Those attitudes can come into play when parents take their children out of sex education courses. “Something that is really actually common among young Muslims in America is our parents actually opting us out of taking sex ed,” Mohammed tells Teen Vogue. “My parents opted me out. I didn't get any sex ed until it was required in seventh grade. By then I had learned it from all my friends.”

Asal Wahdan, a 22-year-old student at the University of Illinois, took part in a HEART workshop when she was in high school and now organizes events on campus for HEART. Before learning about HEART, Wahdan tells Teen Vogue that sex education was not something she talked about openly, especially with her family or at school.

HEART gave Wahdan a space to talk about her menstrual cycle. “Sometimes you have to hide that you are not praying or fasting because you are on your period,” she says. “It was liberating to openly talk about why we’re not fasting.”

The #MeToo movement has opened the door for women everywhere to have their voices heard. It has brought the issue of sexual violence to the attention of many men in the Muslim community and led to more awareness.

But some Muslim women still feel excluded. “Muslim survivors are being forced into the #MeToo movement not out of choice, but needing to join this movement because it is happening among a class of higher socioeconomic white women,” Qureshi says.

Others say the stigmas around the Muslim community are affecting survivors who might want to take part in the #MeToo movement. Muslim women sometimes struggle to report sexual violence out of fear advancing a negative narrative of their communities.

To help more Muslim women come forward, Mohammed, a survivor of sexual violence, says she is working with Rep. Ilhan Omar on legislation in Minnesota that would eliminate the statute of limitations for prosecuting sexual violence crimes. Mohammed says she hopes it will empower survivors and that they will have more options than she had.

“The door wasn't open for me, but I grabbed it and said let's go in,” she says.

If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual violence, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673). Resources on how to discuss sexual violence can be found on HEART Women & Girls, RAINN, End Rape on Campus, Know Your IX, and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.

Related: A New Report Shows Women of All Ages Support #MeToo