On 8 April, the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (WRMEA) published a special report by Libyan academic and award-winning journalist Mustafa Fetouri, entitled ‘Libya’s missing and murdered women’. In his report, Fetouri writes about the increase of violence against Libyan women since the Arab Spring in 2011, arguing that all the successive governments that came after the collapse of the Gaddafi regime have so far failed to resolve the issue. Citing examples of kidnappings and murders of high-profile female MPs, activists, and lawyers, as well as honour killings by male relatives, Fetouri argues that the situation of Libyan women today ‘is worse than it was a decade ago’, adding that they used to be generally more empowered and represented in the country’s political affairs. He concludes by noting that the country’s ‘dysfunctional legislature’ rarely discusses accountability and effective policing, thus leaving militias ‘accountable to no one’.
Read the full report here.