Libyan Minister’s ‘Morality’ Measures Would Violate Women’s Rights

During a November 6 press conference in Tripoli, the Government of National Unity’s acting interior minister, Emad Trabelsi, vowed to impose wide-ranging “morality” measures targeting women and girls in western Libya. The restrictions on clothing, social interactions, and travel would flagrantly violate the rights of Libyan women and girls, yet the prime minister and other government officials have remained conspicuously silent on the proposals.

Trabelsi declared that there is “no space for personal freedom in Libya” and said he would deploy “morality police” to monitor social interactions between women and men, threatening to “imprison” unrelated couples who meet in public. He said women should dress with propriety and modesty in public and that not wearing a hijab headscarf “is not acceptable.” He also called on the education minister to impose the hijab for schoolgirls from the fourth grade onwards. “Morality police” enforcing compulsory headdress for women and girls would be without a legal basis.

Trabelsi also announced that women who wished to travel abroad would need the written permission of a male guardian such as a father, husband, or brother. Tying women’s mobility to a male guardian would violate Libyan women’s right to travel whether for leisure, education, or work. It would be a major step backwards for Libya, placing it in the company of other countries in the region that allow men to control women’s movements, depriving them of their rights.

The acting minister did not explain the legal basis for these arbitrary and draconian measures which would violate Libya’s interim constitution. As a state party to numerous international human rights treaties, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and its Maputo Protocol on Women’s Rights in Africa, Libya is legally obliged to end all discrimination against women and guarantee the right to freedom of movement. The proposed restrictions would also violate other rights including privacy, bodily autonomy, freedom of expression and of association.

The government and international community should not tolerate any measures that would violate the fundamental rights of women. On the contrary, authorities should uphold their obligation to respect and protect the human rights and dignity of everyone in Libya.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).