By Tom Westcott.
London, 9 December:
“It’s very easy to find negatives but it’s not so easy to ask questions about the positives,” . . .[restrict]Alaa Murabit, the founder and chairwoman of the Voice of Libyan Women, told BBC radio presenter Jenni Murray in an interview last week.
“This interview has been quite sad,” Murabit said right at the end of the radio interview in which presenter Murray’s questions focussed on the negative aspects of life for women in Libya. “If you look at the position of Libyan women today, you would be very surprised by the progress they’ve made,” Murabit said.
The spirited 22 year-old founder of the Voice of Libyan Women (VLW), an NGO dedicated to equality, was speaking on Woman’s Hour, a daily programme on UK station Radio 4. However, by trotting out a range of negatives, from the NTC chairman’s comment about polygamy to the attitudes of militias towards activists working in women’s rights, the interview seemed directed at making Libya sound like a backward and dangerous country for women.
After discussing the important role Libyan women played in the revolution, Murabit tried to move the interview forward, saying: “If we look at our recent elections, we can see the progress that has been made.”
Murray, however, wanted to discuss NTC chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil’s first speech (now over a year old) after the fall of Qaddafi, which referred to future possibilities of polygamy.
Murabit said that what was more important than his ill-timed comment was the response of Libyan women to the statement which, she pointed out, resulted in Jalil making a public apology at the VLW ‘One Voice’ conference. The impact of the country’s transitional leader apologising seemed lost on the BBC presenter.
Murray glossed over the recent progress in politics and the remarkable statistic that 33 members of the GNC are women and two are cabinet members. Instead, she wanted to talk about Sarah Elmesallati, the presenter at the handover ceremony from the NTC to the GNC (some four months ago), who was heckled offstage for not wearing a headscarf, to be replaced by a male presenter.
Murray also brought up the role of the militias in Libya, quoting Amnesty International as saying they have a stranglehold on the country and are holding back the rights of women.
“I can honestly tell you that I am one of the most recognised women’s rights activists in Libya,” Murabit said, “and I can personally assure you that I haven’t had any trouble from militias.”
She went on to say that some militias caused trouble for human rights activists in general and said that ultimately all militias should be disbanded. She added that the government was doing its best, but that this was easier said than done, especially with the proliferation of weapons in the country.
“You’re quite dismissive of the aggression of the militias,” Murray said, sounding surprised and apparently again overlooking the crucial progress that has been made despite the new Libya being just a year old.
“Democracy is not an event, it’s a process,” Murabit pointed out, “it took decades for some of the most developed countries in the world to really get on that path.”
After saying that the interview had been a sad one, Murabit managed to cram in a few words about the progress of women in Libya since the revolution. “Seventeen percent of our parliament are women and they are strong women,” Murabit said, “and women’s civil society organisations have banded together and are creating women’s charters and creating guidelines for the constitution, and are being heard.”
Murray sounded slightly taken aback by Murabit’s parting shot, which was that the slant of the interview was because positive stories do not make such good press as negative ones.
Woman’s Hour, billed as: “Radio 4’s landmark programme which puts a female perspective on the world” with “forty-five minutes of discussion and interviews about issues that affect and celebrate women,” seems in this instance to have fallen short of its usual standards.
Murray’s background material for the interview was obviously based upon recent reports in the UK press and from human rights organisations such as Amnesty International. The general news about Libya reaching an international readership is clearly highlighting the problems still facing the country, rather than the progress it continues to make. Unfortunately, Murabit’s attempts to redress the balance were hindered in this interview.
The interview can be heard here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p3n2k
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