“We in the Jamahiriya and the great revolution affirm

our respect for women and raise their flag. We have decided to

wholly liberate the women of Libya in order to rescue them from

a world of oppression and subjugation in such a way that they will become

masters of their own destiny in a democratic setting where they will have the same

opportunities as the other members of society […]

We call for a revolution to liberate the women of the Arab nation,

which will be a bomb to shake up the entire Arab region, inciting

female prisoners, whether in palaces or marketplaces, to rebel against their

jailers, their exploiters, and their oppressors. This call is certain to

cause profound echoes and repercussions in the entire

Arab nation and in the world at large. Today is not just any day,

it is the beginning of the end of the era of harems and slaves […]”

Muammar Gaddafi, September 1, 1981:

the anniversary of the revolution, introducing

the first women to receive diplomas from the

Military Academy for Women