Progress Amid Resistance

306 WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICApercentage of their deceased husband’s pension. However, in practice, dueto bureaucratic inefficiencies, these payments appear to be difficult forwomen to collect.Women who are divorced face particularly acute challenges. AlthoughLibyan law calls for the man to leave the marital home to his wife andchildren upon divorce, tradition dictates otherwise. In reality, divorcedwomen are expected to return to live with their families, as society doesnot tolerate the idea of a woman living alone and supporting herself. 68Unmarried women are similarly expected to remain in the family homeuntil marriage.RecommendationsF The government should sponsor nationwide public information campaignsabout reproductive health and modern methods of contraception.F The government should run similar campaigns to raise awareness ofHIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.F The government should introduce special shelters and support networksto provide temporary or group housing, as well as job trainingand other services, for divorced women or widows who have no familyto support them.AUTHORAlison Pargeter is a senior research associate in the Department of Politicsand International Studies at the University of Cambridge. Her researchfocus is on North Africa, with a particular focus on Libya, and on issuesrelated to political Islam and radicalization in the Middle East and NorthAfrica region as well as in Europe. She has carried out numerous researchprojects on Libya that have included fieldwork in the country. She hasalso published widely on these topics, and her recent book—The NewFrontiers of Jihad: Radical Islam in Europe—was published by I.B. Taurisin 2008.NOTES1Muammar al-Qadhafi, The Green Book (Tripoli: World Centre for the Study andResearch of the Green Book, 1983).2Human Rights Watch, Libya: A Threat to Society? Arbitrary Detention of Women andGirls for “Social Rehabilitation” (New York: Human Rights Watch, February 27, 2006),http://www.hrw.org/en/node/11468/section/1.