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Women's Rights At a pre-wedding evening party in central Tripoli, a group of Libyan womem sing traditional songs to the beat of a drum as they prepare to apply henna to the bride's hands and feet.
Clapping her hands to the music as she waited for the bride to appear, 23-year old Sarah Burruin said she has just one wish for women in the new Libya.
"I want women to be equal, " the engineering student said. "Whatever men do, I want women to be able to do it too. This is our time."
In post-revolution Libya, Egypt and Tunisia, women are exploring what the Arab Spring means for them.
Since long-time leaders were toppled in the three north African states, many fret the power vacuum will leave the door open for Islamist groups to take power and force changes that will damage women's rights.
In Tunisia Islamist have already risen to power while in Egypt, they are leading elections and have pledged to govern by Islamisc laws.
In Libya, National Transitional Council (NTC) chief Mustafa Abdel jalil alarmed many when he pledged to uphold Islamic law and ease polygamy rules in a speech.
"For now we just want enough women to go to elections, this alone is a huge challenge, " said Amira Alshokri, cofounder of Tripoli-bassed NGO Phoenix. She said Phoenix had recently sent out thousands of invitations to women for a free "Know your rights" lecture, but only 50 showed up.
from - newspaper
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