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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Libya
Index
Women have played a significant role in Qadhafi's military
build-up
Qadhafi has persistently sought to usher in a policy of direct
participation by women in national defense. His efforts, which have
been resisted by conservative elements of Libyan society and
apparently by most young women as well, derived from his argument
that women of the Arab world live in a subjugated state and must be
liberated from oppression and feudalism. Qadhafi viewed practices
governing a woman's role in society and her legal rights as
disrespectful, reactionary, and contrary to the Quran
(see The Traditional View of Men and Women
, ch. 2).
Speaking at a rally in Tripoli in 1978, Qadhafi said that the
goal of a totally armed people would be fully realized "when all
Libyans--men and women--have been trained in an organized, modern
fashion." Addressing in the same speech the political and religious
problems that a full-fledged military role for women presented in
Islamic Libya, Qadhafi declared that this "is not against religion,
not against marriage, not against ethics."
Shortly thereafter, it was announced that women were to be
conscripted along with men, but this plan apparently was not fully
implemented. A women's army college opened in Tripoli in 1979,
training volunteers aged thirteen to seventeen in basic military
subjects and the use of various weapons. A total of 7,000 students
had passed through the academy by 1983. Some female pilots and
naval recruits had reportedly also been enlisted. Nevertheless, the
notion of women as soldiers remained unpopular. Some observers
believed that many of the students had been coerced into entering
the academy. The institution was closed in November 1983,
reportedly after students ripped down fences to escape and return
to their homes.
Nonetheless, the new legislation introduced in February 1984
covering universal military service specifically included women.
When the GPC took the almost unprecedented step of rejecting the
proposal, Qadhafi saw this as evidence of lingering reactionary
attitudes in a society that had not whole heartedly accepted the
revolution. "Spontaneous demonstrations" of young women demanding
the right to engage in military service were organized. In a speech
on March 12, 1984, Qadhafi announced that popular demand made it
necessary to introduce compulsory military service for all in spite
of the CPC's action. After the Libyan retreat from Chad in March
1987, there were indications that women had served there in
administrative positions.
The women's military academy was not reopened, however, and no
immediate steps were taken to institute full-time military service
for women. Training was apparently to remain an adjunct to high
school and university studies. Even so, there was evidence that the
program was not being resolutely enforced. As late as April 1986,
the Libyan press mentioned complaints over the delays and haphazard
nature of the training programs at the Zlitan Women Teachers'
Institute, apparently owing to the indifference of local military
authorities.
Data as of 1987
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