The overall status of women in Libya has undergone significant changes and progress over the years. The Gadaffi government has made emancipation effort, with the empowerment of women being a central aspect of the 1969 revolution. The same government has yet been held responsible for various human rights violations, including on women. The condition of women in society has improved through policies such as equal pay for equal work, universal healthcare, and right to education. Women have also gained the right to vote, run for political office, and participate in national institutions. However, cultural biases against women in the workplace and resistance to change from more traditional sectors of society have been obstacles to process. Moreover, the political upheaval of the 2011 revolution has led to both gains and setbacks for women's rights. Nonetheless, the continued involvement and engagement of women in public life and government have emphasized the importance of female emancipation for the progress and development of Libya as a whole.
Society under the Libyan Arab Republic
Central to the revolution of 1969 was the empowerment of women and removal of inferior status. Which after the change of rule resulted in the roles and status of women becoming subject of a great deal of discussion and legal action in Libya under the new established republic, as they have in many countries of the Arab World. Some observers suggest that the Gadaffi regime made efforts on behalf of female emancipation because it viewed women as an essential source of labour in an economy chronically starved for workers. Furthermore, commentators postulate that the government was interested in expanding its political base, hoping to curry favour by championing female rights. Since independence, Libyan leaders have been committed to improving the condition of women.
Emancipation
In the 1970s, female emancipation was in large measure a matter of age. One observer generalized that city women under the age of thirty-five had discarded the traditional veil and were quite likely to wear Western-style clothing. Those between the ages of thirty-five and forty-five were increasingly ready to consider such a change, but women over the age of forty-five appeared reluctant to give up the protection which they perceived their veils and customary dress to afford. A decade later, veiling was uncommon among urban women.
During this era, women were also increasingly seen driving, shopping, or traveling without husbands or male companions (known as Mahrams).
Voting and government
Since 1964, Libyan women have had the right to vote and to participate in political life.
Since then, the government has encouraged women to participate in elections and national political institutions, but in 1987 only one woman had advanced as far as the national cabinet, as an assistant secretary for information and culture. However, from 1989 to 1994 Fatima Abd al-Hafiz Mukhtar served as Minister of Education. Salma Ahmed Rashed, from 1992 to 1994, served as Assistant Secretary of Women, then as Secretary in the General Secretariat of the General People's Congress for Women's Affairs from 1994 to 1995, and was eventually the Ambassador to the League of Arab Nations in 1996.
Others serving as Secretary in the General Secretariat of the General People's Congress for Women's Affairs included from 1995 to 1998 Thuriya Ramadan Abu Tabrika, Nura Han Ramadan Abu Sefrian from 1998 to 2000, Dr. Shalma Chabone Abduljabbar, and Amal Nuri Abdullah al-Safar from 2006 to 2009. Women serving as Secretary in the General Secretariat of the General People's Congress for Social Affairs have included Dr. Shalma Chabone Abduljabbar and Abd-al-Alim al-Shalwi, while from 1995 to 2000 Fawziya Bashir al-Shalababi served as Secretary for Information, Culture and Mass Mobilization. Dr. Huda Fathi Ben Amer began serving as the Secretary of People's Committees Affairs in 2009, and also served as President of the Transitional Arab Parliament. Dr. Salma Shabaan Abdel Jabar began serving as Secretary of Woman Affairs in 2009. In March 2021, Najla el-Mangoush was appointed as the foreign minister.