Hawk’s Eye on the World: Libya’s War-Tested Women Hope to Keep New Power

Breon Wise

Thompson

Global Issues

September 13, 2011

Hawk’s Eye on the World

Locate: Libya’s War-Tested Women Hope to Keep New Power

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/13/world/africa/13women.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=africa

Read:

· “Aisha Gdour, a school psychologist, smuggled bullets in her brown leather handbag. Fatima Bredan, a hairdresser, tended wounded rebels. Hweida Shibadi, a family lawyer, helped NATO find airstrike targets. And Amal Bashir, an art teacher, used a secret code to collect orders for munitions”

· “Women did far more than send sons and husbands to the front. They hid fighters and cooked them meals. They sewed flags, collected money, contacted journalists. They ran guns and, in a few cases, used them”

· “The six-month uprising against Colonel Qaddafi has propelled women in this traditional society into roles they never imagined. And now, though they already face obstacles to preserving their influence, many women never want to go back.”

· “Maybe I can be the new president or the mayor,” Ms. Gdour, 44.

· Libya’s government only consists of one woman. There isn’t even a women’s bathroom in the council’s headquarters

· “Men are also responding, with some who once objected to fiancées and sisters working late or attending protests now beginning to support such activities. Fear of sexual coercion by Qaddafi cronies, once a pervasive threat to prominent women, has evaporated”

· “Even if they don’t give us our rights, we have the right to go out and demand them.” Nabila Abdelrahman Abu Ras, 40

· “many Libyan women, educated enough to dream large, said they were held back by dictatorship and tradition. When the revolution came, they were primed for action.”

· “Ms. Bashir, the art teacher, who giggles as she recalls her days as a covert arms dealer, wanted to build a career as an artist. But the sponsor of her first exhibit of drawings, a government insider, demanded sex. She canceled the show, hid the drawings and focused her public life around raising her children.”

· “Ms. Gdour drove with her neighbor to deliver rifles hidden under a car seat. Another friend transported money for rebels inside her baby’s diaper.”

· “We will never again let anyone control us,” Ms. Shibadi said.

Additional sources:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvMtCp8cgtE

Summary:

The revolution in Libya has not only been a revolution for the country but for its people, especially the women. The role of women in Libya has been nonexistent, except for in the home. In fact the role of women is so rare in the government, there is no women’s restroom in the council’s headquarters. Thanks to the revolution, women have been able to break barriers and do things they were never able to do before. “Aisha Gdour, a school psychologist, smuggled bullets in her brown leather handbag. Fatima Bredan, a hairdresser, tended wounded rebels. Hweida Shibadi, a family lawyer, helped NATO find airstrike targets. And Amal Bashir, an art teacher, used a secret code to collect orders for munitions”. This event was what the women of Libya were waiting for, ““many Libyan women, educated enough to dream large, said they were held back by dictatorship and tradition. When the revolution came, they were primed for action.” Even men, who use to oppose women working late, attending protest, etc, are now supporters of the women and their pursuits to help their country. This is very far from where women were not to long ago, “Ms. Bashir, the art teacher, who giggles as she recalls her days as a covert arms dealer, wanted to build a career as an artist. But the sponsor of her first exhibit of drawings, a government insider, demanded sex. She canceled the show, hid the drawings and focused her public life around raising her children.” Women have risen and promise never to go back to where they were, “We will never again let anyone control us,” Ms. Shibadi said. “Even if they don’t give us our rights, we have the right to go out and demand them.” says Nabila Abdelrahman Abu Ras. Even though the revolution is less than a year old, women already have aspiration of contributing to their country, “Maybe I can be the new president or the mayor,” Ms. Gdour, 44. And women have definitely earned everything they aspire to be. Women have played a significant role in the liberation of Libya, although the struggle still continues. Women have risked their lives for their country, “Ms. Gdour drove with her neighbor to deliver rifles hidden under a car seat. Another friend transported money for rebels inside her baby’s diaper.” Women in Libya have taken advantage of their opportunities, hopefully this will show women of other suppressed countries that women can change they way they are looked upon.