Where were the mainstream media during the women’s revolution?
Published: Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Lindsey Hilsum of Channel 4 News would like to know where the women were in the Libyan revolution.
She has identified their presence in Egypt, Tunisia and Bahrain, but not in this particular instance of the Arab spring.
Well, back in February they were among the dead when Libyan forces opened fire at a funeral for 35 dead protesters.
Later on they were urging other women to come out and protest for freedom and dignity, to support the revolution in any way they could, even if it was just supplying fellow protestors with water.
One woman was calling in to BBC Radio with updates in English on what was happening in Tripoli. Others took part in a sit-in in front of a Benghazi courthouse.
They were on the front line of the resistance against Gaddafi's regime, taking part in protests, sleeping rough, organising food supplies, briefing the foreign press and separating themselves from their children in order to protect them.
When armed revolution finally broke out, they were acting as support troops for the men involved in combat and appealed to Britain and France for air strikes against Gaddafi's forces.