We demand reform, we demand justice and we demand women's rights now!-Amnesty USA

We demand reform, we demand justice and we demand women's rights now!
She dared to speak out about unimaginable abuse.

On March 26 Libyan law graduate Eman al-Obeidi burst into a Tripoli restaurant and shocked journalists with the story that she was beaten and gang-raped by Muammar Gaddafi's government troops.

The Libyan government claimed al-Obeidi was mentally ill, a drunk and a prostitute. They pressured her mother and other family members to convince al-Obeidi to change her story.

But the truth – about the violent and systemic sexual abuse of women by Libyan troops – has taken root. Al-Obeidi has become a global "symbol of defiance" against the Gadaffi regime.

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Throughout the Middle East and North Africa, women like al-Obeidi are taking enormous risks to fight for real reform, not just new governments. Women protestors want stronger policies promoting women’s rights.

It is an enormously difficult struggle.

Many Yemeni women have joined the peaceful protests calling for government reform, yet they are treated as second-class citizens in law and custom. They endure forced marriages, unequal protection under the law and inadequate recourse against domestic abuse.
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The door is open for change in the Middle East and North Africa, but women face entrenched inequality. They need your support now – please make a contribution today!


In Egypt, where a new government is being formed, women are still far from enjoying full human rights protections. At least 18 women who were arrested during a peaceful March protest in Tahrir Square said they were given electric shocks, strip searched while being photographed by male soldiers and forced to take "virginity tests."

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