Gaddafi's Harem: The Story of a Young Woman and the Abuses of Power in Libya

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In 2011, Annick Cojean, senior reporter at Le Monde and special correspondent for Tripoli, wrote a shock article, titled Gaddafi s sexual slave , which told the story of Soraya, a twenty two year old Libyan woman who had been kidnapped and held captive since the age of 15 Soraya was a schoolgirl in the coastal town of Sirte, when she was given the honour of presenting a bouquet of flowers to Colonel Gaddafi, the Guide, on a visit he was making the following week This one meeting a presentation of flowers, a pat on the head from Gaddafi changed Soraya s life forever Soon afterwards, she was summoned to Bab al Azizia, Gaddafi s palatial compound near Tripoli, where she joined a number of young women who were violently abused, raped and degraded by Gaddafi.In 2012, Cojean returned to Libya to continue her investigation Her book, Gaddafi s Harem, takes Soraya as its starting point to recount the fates of so many other women She has gone to remarkable lengths rape is the highest taboo in Libya to collect these women s stories Heartwrenchingly tragic but ultimately redemptive, Soraya s story is the first of many that are just now beginning to be heard.In Gaddafi s Harem, Le Monde special correspondent Annick Cojean gives a voice to Soraya s story, and supplements her investigation into Gaddafi s abuses of power through interviews with other women who were abused by Gaddafi, and those who were involved with his regime, including a driver who ferried women to the compound, and Gaddafi s former Chief of Security.Gaddafi s Harem is an astonishing portrait of the essence of dictatorship how power gone unchecked can wreak havoc on the most intensely personal level, as well as a document of great significance to the new Libya. New Read Gaddafi's Harem: The Story of a Young Woman and the Abuses of Power in Libya Author Annick Cojean For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr This is not an easy book to read, but it is a book that needs to be read nonetheless The atrocities committed by Gaddafi, both public and secret, need to be publicly aired so that the nation of Libya can begin rebuilding its cultural and social history Although a taboo subject, the sexual crimes that were perpetrated by the ruler and his followers cannot be forgotten or simply swept under the rug, as many would prefer It is quite interesting to see how religion and culture can even shape This is not an easy book to read, but it is a book that needs to be read nonetheless The atrocities committed by Gaddafi, both...Political prisoners who have been beaten, humiliated, staved and chained are given a welcome back to society Not so for Gaddafi s sex slaves and slaves they were Upon release, none were feted, some were killed by their own families, all were labeled whores This is the case of the women in Gaddafi s Harem.This powerful content needs a better book I recognize that there are loses in translation as it goes from Arabic to French to English an...This book is very disturbing yet an important document of the Gaddafi years in Libya The bravery of this young woman and the savagery and cowardice of her countrymen is painful to read, I can only imagine what she herself must feel This story is an indictment of a brutal dictator and the system of men and women who facilitated his systematic rape and torture of young women and men many of them still children really and a society which despite ridding themselves of Gaddafi himself, continue This book is very disturbing yet an important document of the Gaddafi years in Libya The bravery of this young woman and the savagery and cowardice of her countrymen is painful to read, I can only imagine what she herself must feel This story is an indictment of a brutal dictator and the system of men and women who facilitated his systematic rape and torture of young women and men many of them still children really and a society which despite ridding themselves of Gaddafi himself, continue to ignore the victims of his violent crimes Any society which covers up crimes against its most vulnerable citizens rather than confront them and assist the victims to heal is continuing in the perpetuation of the original crime Until a society truly values it s women and children it is going to continue to perpetuate brutal crime The sense of outrage is palpable in this book, perhaps because so many of those who should be outraged would prefer to not know or ackno...This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers To view it, click here Lunatic book, a complete waste of time and money full of lies, recommended only for perverts and disturbed people western cheap propaganda at its best or worst should have a label FICTION on its cover_One of the most bizarre and terrible books I had ever read The author probably was funded by someome intereste...This is the opposite of a light read French journalist Annick Cojean writes an important but hard to read account of the extensive system of sexual abuse sexual slavery that existed in Libya under the regime of Muammar Gaddafi About the first half of the book and in my opinion the most engrossing is a firsthand account of one of Gaddafi s girls Soraya s story is brutal but it turns out, not uncommon At the age of 15 she was selected from her school to present a bouquet of flowers to This is the opposite of a light read French journalist Annick Cojean writes an important but hard to read account of the extensive system of sexual abuse sexual slavery that existed in Libya under the regime of Muammar Gaddafi About t...French journalist Annick Cojean met some girls who according to her lived in the palace of the Libyan dictator as sex slaves I read her newspaper article first and when she wrote the book I was interested in a glimpse into the real life of this dictator What a disappoi...Well, after all I am not sure it was a real book with real content It is something unbelievable, May be it categorized under a science fiction book rather than being a political book which tell real stories I can not understand or accept the fact that there was a man like the mentioned one in this book Mummar Qaddaffi How a human creature...It is not an amazing book.First, the flow of the story feltas fiction rather than testimony or documentary, particularly on Soraya s story that takes half of the book.The second part is much better, although, somehow, I feel it is not ordered well enough.Somehow, the fiction impression that I got makes me want to read its French version, since probably the writer usesexpressions anddramatical words than those she used here.Second,The writer also missed to emphasize...Deeply disturbing book and utterly shocking, especially for the fact that such a public figure can get away with such horrendous crimes for forty odd years The story itself tends to be repetitive and once one account by one witness is read you essentially don t really need to read the rest Certain facts seem implausible and it would have beencredible if the author had checked her facts before writing certain things down which make her story dubious For example, I know for a fact that Deeply disturbing book and utterly shocking, especially for the fact that such a public figure can get away ...The first half of this biography cum history is Soraya s story told in the first person, she tells us of her tragic kidnapping by Gaddafi s men and ian bodyguards and subsequent sexual enslavement at the young age of fourteen Though much shocked me throughout the novel, perhaps one of thesurprising elements since I was not overly educated on his reign and downfall prior to reading was that Gaddafi advocated for women s rights in Libya, a country with a Muslim majority The first half of this biography cum history is Soraya s story told in the first person, she tells us of her tragic kidnapping by Gaddafi s men and ian bodyguards and subsequent sexual enslavement at the young age of fourteen Though much shocked me throughout the novel, perhaps one of thesurprising elements since I was not overly educated on his reign and downfall prior to reading was that Gaddafi advocated for women s rights in Libya, a country with a Mus...

Gaddafi's Harem: The Story of a Young Woman and the Abuses of Power in Libya
  • English
  • 24 January 2019
  • Hardcover
  • 287 pages
  • 0802121721
  • Annick Cojean
  • Gaddafi's Harem: The Story of a Young Woman and the Abuses of Power in Libya