The first free election in Libya

Today marked the first free election in Libya, taking place in Benghazi. A memorable picture from today-

Taken from here. A small note about the title of the picture, which is “The vote of a Libyan woman is a revolution, not ‘awrah.” The word for “vote”, “sound”, and “voice” is the same, in Arabic: sawt (صوت). In the strictest Muslim tradition, the voice of a woman is considered ‘awrah, the term used to describe parts of the body or types of actions that are meant to be concealed for the sake of modesty. A challenge for the future of Libyan women will be asserting that their voices and votes are to be a mainstay in Libyan public life, not something to be repressed and hidden.