Ibtisam Ighfir

Benghazi - The Washm Center was founded in Benghazi in 2019, and it is the first center working on women’s rights and gender issues in Libya

We talked to Dr. Abeer Amnina about the center’s works, and the reason for choosing “Washm (Tattoo)” name for the center.

Dr.Abeer Amnina is the head of the Washm Center for Women's Studies and a member at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Benghazi. She said, “The name Washm (tattoo) was chosen for the center by taking the opinions of young people. The name has multiple meanings; the tattoo has been used for centuries by women. Women draw tattoos on their faces to tell their stories it and it is a form of beauty.

She kept talking about the center and said, “The civil society, from ancient times until now, has been working to establish organizations, institutions, and unions about women's issues, but they always face the obstacle, so I sought with a group of female academics to establish a center that works on women's issues. Although we faced many difficulties, they couldn't stop us. We started our work by carrying out three projects, first one is about scientific research, the second one is about raising awareness, and the third one includes activities to work on changing many laws.

She talked about the center's work, and said, "We organize workshops to raise awareness about municipal elections. We also provide training programs for women to know how to deal with organizations, and to develop their administrative capabilities and professional competencies, and as a result women can effectively run for elections in municipal councils."

Dr. Abeer Amnina also talked about their cooperation with the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation, “We conducted training courses on social security from a gender perspective, and we also actively worked on project about women and their role in their families and society. We are now working on several projects, to make women’s role visible in the administrative sector and decision-making, but we are still waiting for support to complete our project.”