Qaddafi, sons raped female bodyguards, claims psychologist

Libyan leader Colonel Qaddafi and his sons and high officials raped the leader’s female security guards, as has been claimed by a Libyan psychologist.

Dr. Seham Sergewa, a prominent Libyan psychologist, is currently collecting details of rape and sexual abuse cases of Libyan women. Five of her patients happen to be Moammar Qaddafi’s ex-bodyguards and they claim that Qaddafi, his sons, and senior officials raped them in succession. The Washington Post quotes Dr. Sergewa saying that the women were passed on as objects of sex abuse from the dictator to his sons and then on to the senior government officials till the women were wanted no more and were freed. The probe by the Libyan psychologist also reveals cases of forced recruitment of women into the ranks of security officers. One case is that of a woman who claims she was blackmailed with threats of imprisoning her brother for life if she refused to become a security guard. Dr. Sergewa has also started investigating claims of gang rape of women by Qaddafi’s soldiers during the conflict that started earlier this year. Some of the victims of rape are said to have committed suicide. An estimated 6,000 women have been raped in Libya, at least 300 of them raped during the conflict starting with the rebellion against Qaddafi, reports Pattayadailynews.com. Dr. Sergewa’s probe shows that rape was used by Qaddafi’s soldiers as a “weapon of war” during the recent conflict and for using this "weapon," the soldiers even received condoms and Viagra. Some Libyan doctors and psychologists, however, have questioned Dr. Sergewa’s research methods and her findings; they ask for independent reviewing of her claims, reports The Telegraph.