Women's Rights in Tunisia
AAM partnered with leading independent television station Attounsia to host a town hall discussion on women’s rights in Tunisia.
The event provided a forum for citizens and civil society activists to debate the state of women’s rights in Tunisia, and the policies of the governing Islamist Ennahda party.
Panelists included:
Farida Obeidi, member of the Constituent Assembly representing the Ennahda party
Senim Ben Abdallah, sociologist
Iqbal Msabaa, consultant to President Marzouki and member of the Constituent Assembly representing the Congress for the Republic Party (CPR).
The legal rights and freedoms which Tunisian women enjoy are unparalleled in the Arab world, thanks to the vision of former president Habib Bourguiba and his ability to institute sustained, far-reaching reforms. Among the first measures he took after independence was the introduction of the Personal Status Code to improve the social position and treatment of women.
But two weeks ago, Tunisia’s ruling Islamist Ennahda party proposed the controversial “Article 28” in the new constitution. The article has already been voted on by the National Constituent Assembly’s (ANC) Rights and Freedoms committee, but must be approved by all members of the ANC before it can be adopted.
The text outlines that, “The state guarantees to protect women’s rights, as they stand, under the principle of man’s complement within the family and man’s partner in developing the country.” In protest against the article’s use of the word “complement,” demonstrations were held in the capital Tunis as well as a number of other cities in the country.
Given these latest events, the main question that was asked in the most recent next town hall was: Are women’s rights in Tunisia under threat?
A group of citizens and civil society activists, both men and women, came together with government officials to debate this question, as well as other issues relevant to the on-the-ground reality of Tunisian women’s lives, socially and culturally.
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