WHEN I told my family and friends I intended to pursue a PhD researching HIV awareness among married women in Libya, my home country, the reaction was not encouraging: “You’d be lucky to even get members of your family to respond,” said one. They weren’t being unnecessarily pessimistic but rather managing my expectations, considering I was not only researching HIV awareness in a conservative country often perceived as oppressive, but I was also looking to recruit women. Author ABIER HAMIDI, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, Bournemouth University Historically, Libyan women have been placed under severe social and…