Zohra (not her real name) is a former professor at Omar al-Mokhtar University in Derna.

This wall is the result of two years of pressure from Islamist militias on the city, and more specifically on the university. Derna is even more conservative than the big Libyan cities like Tripoli or Benghazi. Islamists settled here following Gaddafi’s fall. They have been putting pressure on the university administration and the school’s female students. They criticise co-ed classes, the outfits of some female students, and some disciplines that are, according to them, an offence to Islam. The law department in particular is being targeted because it teaches the laws of this world, and not Sharia law – even though Libyan laws are inspired by Islam!

Militiamen in the university.

“The students know their lives are on the line if they criticise these measures”

The lack of security in Derna, particularly inside the university, allowed the Islamists to take control of the city [Editor’s Note: the university was closed twice over the past two years due to campus security problems]. Weapons were brought onto the campus. They were a number of injuries during clashes between students. The militias then offered the university administration a deal: they would provide security on campus in exchange for the introduction of an “Islamic” dress code for female students and the construction of a wall to separate men and women. The university’s president, as well as Derna’s local council, accepted this proposal.

The wall under construction near the architecture department.

It’s normal that, after the fall of a dictatorial regime, a country would slip backward, because things take a while to fall into place. I’m not surprised that such an initiative was proposed by militiamen or even regular people, but it’s just depressing that both the university administration and the city government would approve.