Libya's administration in Tripoli is stepping up efforts to fend off European influence and protect Islamic social values, with a new "morality police" set to start operating in December.

The morality police will enforce strict regulations regarding women's dress codes in public places, including mandating girls to wear a veil, or hijab, from the age of 9. Women will no longer be allowed to travel without a male guardian, and "inappropriate" behavior between women and men in public will also be banned.

"Libya is not a place for personal freedoms," Emad Al-Trabelsi, the interior minister of Libya's Tripoli-based, UN-backed Government of National Unity saidearlier this month, adding that "those seeking freedom should go to Europe."

These words have sparked outcry among Libya's overly young population, and the country's women in particular.

"As a Libyan citizen, you, as a minister, have no right to tell me to leave for Europe if I disagree with your decisions," Ahlam Bin Taboun, a Libyan civil researcher, told DW.

"Libya is a state that should be governed by laws applied to everyone, not by someone's personal opinions," she said.

Even ahead of the introduction of the new force, the announced policies have already encouraged some men to hold women accountable to........

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