Since the early popular rallies in Benghazi on 15 February 2011, women played a crucial role in the revolution that toppled Libyan long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Whether by helping organise and joining daily demonstrations, providing medical aid to those wounded, smuggling ammunitions, selling their jewellery to fund rebel fighters or cooking meals for frontline units, they supported and led the uprising. It was their revolution too. Something many forget is the Libyan revolution was started by women, Hajer Sharief, a human rights advocate and co-founder of Together We Build It (TWBI), a local organisation promoting peace and security in Libya, told
The New Arab.