In Libya the civil war freed the country from Gaddafi and his regime, and has dealt a huge blow to the country’s repression of civil rights, but equality for women is still a mirage.
Women represent 60% of the population in Libya, however their social dignity and participation in positions of power is next to none. This is due to a cultural, and even religious prejudice.

Bengazi, Libya. Women at a pro-revolution rally in Mahkama square.

The increasing power gained by the Muslim Brotherhood, as in Egypt, is threatening the western dream of witnessing the birth of lay states in the Middle East and North Africa. Two years from the Arab Spring, a succession of revolts and revolutions that saw a geopolitical shuffle in the southern Mediterranean, Libyan women today are still committed to a civil battle to conquer egalitarian respect, juxtaposed to the increasing spread of religious integralism in the region.

Zawia, Libya. Headquarters of Voice of Libyan Women, an NGO founded in 2012 to lobby for women equal rights. Founder and president Alaa Murabit (left) talks with her staff.

Photo reporter Sergio Ramazzotti’s images (he is the co-founder of Parallelo Zero) tell us about Libyan women’s daily lives, while they try to climb to the top of social equality, opening blogs, marching in protest, founding associations for the conquest of civil rights. All the while they look after their husbands and nurture their children. They protest is also supported by their consumer attitude, and by wearing a Gucci headscarf or a Burberry’s shirt they further their stake is social activism so to speak.

Tripoli, Libya. Member of Parliament Najer Mohamed Elgaid in the National Congress building.

That modest respect of prejudices concerning roles in society which too often becomes confused with tradition, not only in Muslim countries but also in the Christian and Jewish West and the Asian cultures to the East.

Zawia, Libya. Headquarters of Voice of Libyan Women, an NGO founded in 2012 to lobby for women equal rights. Women at the entrance of the headquarters.

The thoughts of this Magazine go out to all those women in Libya and all over the world, who fight to affirm their dignity and their right to be different, but equal.