"Gaddafi left behind a heavy burden — a legacy of tyranny and corruption. For four decades, Gaddafi’s tyrannical regime destroyed the infrastructure, as well as the culture and moral fabric, of Libyan society"

"I was keen — along with many other women — to rebuild Libyan civil society, calling for an inclusive and just transition to democracy"

"However, bit by bit, the euphoria of the elections — and of the revolution as a whole — was fading out, for every day we were waking up to the news of violence"

"Our society, shaped by a revolutionary mindset, became more polarized and driven away from the ideas and principles — freedom, dignity, social justice — that we first held. Intolerance, exclusion and revenge became the post-math of the revolution."

"I was fighting them off so much that they tied my legs and arms together. They were drinking a lot, and they would spill the alcohol in my eyes"

"And they would kick my head with their boots."

"the men would come in groups of three and repeatedly rape her"

"the ringleader was a man she recognized — the son of a government minister. She says he was the most brutal"

"Every time he would try to rape me, I would push him away with my legs, and he would scratch my thighs from both sides to force me"

"For two days this happened to me"

"They raped me again really early in the morning on the third day. They were totally drunk. A lot of them just passed out."

"I was in a big room with the other woman. They were raping her, too, but she wasn't fighting back so they didn't tie her up. I asked the other woman to please try to untie me. ... It took awhile to convince the other woman to help me"

"The guards were shocked to see a bleeding naked woman with wild hair holding a piece of metal," she says. "So they opened the gate for me and I just ran out"

"[The neighbors] put me in a taxi, paid the fare, and I told the taxi driver to take me to the hotel [where the journalists are staying]"

"one's own experiences are the ones affecting judgments and perceptions"

"And ultimately, the more you allow yourself to be present outside of your comfort zone and open up to varying experiences and people, the richer and more informed your views and perceptions become"

"It's all a matter of perspective. Three-point perspective will always have more depth than the flat one point."

"The stigma of women in comics and it not being a thing has largely become a factually debunked myth and I daresay we're almost entering a golden age"

"Some spend their whole lives content with their one eye. Others lead paths that open consecutively more"

"Women are the silent unknown soldiers working and striving to hold their families together during times of war"

"Recognition alone at times can be all that is needed to inspire those very women to keep on going; and sharing their stories of triumph both bolsters AND inspires others to likewise believe in themselves and follow suit"

"When women and girls become part of the solution instead of a "burden" that men need to ponder as an extra problem that needs to be solved, society would be able to recover a lot faster as ALL could then participate in reaching a resolution"

"Now is the time for women to believe in themselves and their talents"

"They have so much untapped potential, capabilities and talents buried under self-doubt and unfounded prejudice that they would overturn the region if they give themselves a chance"

"Again, we're in a very transformative time and I believe all factors are ripe for change, so, I wish women would take every opportunity presented to them to make their mark a permanent one"

"We had… congressmen who were either affiliated with militias or who were themselves militias… We started seeing that congresswomen were threatened and bullied physically and verbally by other representatives"

"The root cause… it’s the unchecked militarization, it’s the flow of arms, it’s the arms anarchy"

"The need to demilitarize, demobilize, and to have a rehab programme for those who are traumatized by war has not been addressed by the UN-led peace process"

"focuses on rushing to elections and having a multi-party system when you don’t have real constituencies or comprehension of the idea of political parties and programmes"

"actually caused a further divisiveness and polarization in society"

"I say no to your assumptions, no to your judgements, no to war, no to violence. That’s what I stand for."

"It’s only created a weak centralised government that is not addressing any other issues"

"Nobody attacked the issue in Libya from a holistic approach"

"By that I mean, addressing the humanitarian crisis in Libya, addressing the human rights violations, addressing the lack of justice in Libya, the lack of a rule of law in Libya"

"We need to have a fair representation in terms of gender, a fair representation in terms of generation, a fair representation in terms of culture, a fair representation in terms of all Libyans of diaspora and inside of Libya, a fair representation as well of urban and rural areas… of the capital and more disenfranchised regions and cities. I cannot only focus on women’s empowerment; I need to address the other issues as well"

"We’ve been appeasing warlords"

"To free myself from my father, who was a dominant and abusive patriarch"

"I will still be an activist when my hair has turned completely white"

"Yes, I survived that"

"Life does continue. We watch a movie and turn up the volume to drown out the sounds of the blasts outside."

"We are challenging their ideas of war. I ask them ‘What are you going to do after the war? Even if by then you are 30, 40, 50, 60?"

"Allowing armed militia’s to participate politically is giving them an opportunity to stop using violence."

"Members of militias sometimes react aggressively. I understand their defensive position. We need to remember that they too are traumatized. Just like ourselves"

"I want them to speak about themselves, not as soldiers, but as young human beings. You can’t measure that kind of action, I don’t know how successful that is"

"They see us as these westernized young people with their crazy ideologies, as foreign agents"

"As an activist, I try to see entry points. I never judge or condemn"

"I look for exit points, always make sure I have some sharp item in my bag, knowing I might be sexually violated or attacked"

"What scares me a lot in Europe is youth’s political apathy"