The Desperation of Rape Victims in Libya

The threat of rape was always used in Libya by the gaddafi regime to crush any opposition but the actual use of it on such a scale is unprecedented. Now as many cases have been documented in Ajdabyia, Misrata and the Western Mountains (as for Az-Zawyia it is going to be even worse) people have to do something. It’s not enough to talk and form groups; actions need to be taken immediately. These women need to be helped by providing psychological and social support and huge efforts should be put into educating the general public, especially men that it is not a crime to be raped, that one shouldn’t abandon his wife, sister, daughter, cousin, who was raped, that it goes against Islamic teaching to do such things, that these women should never be driven to desperation and consequently killing themselves (it is emerging now that some women and girls who were gang raped in Ajdabyia have killed themselves.)

Two days ago I spoke to a dear cousin in Benghazi; she told me something that gave me goose bumps and sleepless nights. She said that many young women and girls were preparing to kill themselves upon gaddafi invasion of Benghazi; some put up knots in their bedrooms to hang themselves, some prepared a bottle of gasoline to set themselves ablaze, some hid a big kitchen knife to perform a hara-kiri.

Rape is one of the most damaging thing can happen to any human, as the mental scars are far more damaging than the physical ones but for women to be driven to contemplate killing themselves in anticipation of rape is inhuman and barbaric.

Rape is a taboo in Libya and for many years it was whispered behind closed doors and never spoken of publicly. Even though the Libyan society is ultra conservative, rape did happen but not on such a scale. Rape victims were never given any medical or mental support, some where hurriedly married off to their rapists, others abandoned by their families and put in penitentiaries, prison-like institutions run by the government, and left there forever. Now it is different; it is committed on a much bigger and horrific scale by gaddafi forces and mercenaries. Young girls and women, who were virgins, were subjected to brutal gang rape and torture; many of the incidents were filmed on mobile phones and were circulated to increase the humiliation of these victims and their families. Many victims were infected with HIV and some got pregnant; it is a huge problem and needs to be tackled head-on, no beating around the bush.

Steps to educate the general public have to be taken immediately. Social workers, nurses and even medical doctors need to be trained and dispatched to help these victims and their families and educate the public. Religious leaders and tribal leaders must speak about it and encourage victims to come out and report the rape incidents. It is imperative that all Imams in mosques start a campaign to educate men, young and old, to relinquish such abhorrent customs and embrace and heal their raped wives, sisters, mothers, daughters, cousins and never shy away from marrying a rape victim. This draconian custom of ostracizing and punishing the victims of rape has to stop now.