“Women, like men, are human beings. This is an incontestable truth… Women are different from men in form because they are females, just as all females in the kingdom of plants and animals differ from the male of their species… Since men cannot be impregnated they do not experience the ailments that women do. She breastfeeds for nearly two years.”
- The Green Book by Muammar Qaddafi
The West often views Arab and African countries as not respectful of women's rights. This contradictory criticism becomes more ludicrous when in the West there is the feminization of poverty and attempts of right-wing forces to restrict reproductive rights. For the case of Libya it did not fit into the narrow stereotype that the West perceived. Libyan women could get divorces, receive an education, and join the army. This completely overturned the misogynistic Arab society stereotype. Prior to the 1969 Al Fatitha Revolution, women had the lowest literacy rate in the country . This changed when the Revolutionary Command Council introduced sweeping education reforms. Libyan women could study abroad and pursue careers. Qaddafi's bodyguard corps even consisted of women. Muammar Qaddafi established national military academy for women who wanted to pursue military careers. Libyan women were experiencing power that they had not known before. Lugubriously, this was all reversed by the NATO invasion in 2011. Now, Libyan women are worse off like the majority of the population. Civil war, ethnic conflict, and terrorism has gradually destroyed the country.
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