Women's rights in Tunisia Post-2011: Constitutional Reform and Party Politics

Résumé du document

Tunisia, a small country, sixty times smaller than the United States, possesses little importance at the geostrategic level and does not have a lot of natural resources. Surprisingly, it is thanks to its women's rights policy that Tunisia can claim nowadays to be a country of capital importance for the Arab world. Indeed, the country has pursued a feminist policy for more than sixty years, and has earned the role of model in this region in the eyes of the international community. The major starting point of its feminist policy is the Personal Status Code, also known as PSC, promulgated in 1956 under Bourguiba. Progress on of women's rights continued under the presidency of Ben Ali, who led an institutional feminism policy until his eviction during the Arab Spring. However, since 2011 something has changed about women's rights and feminism; the movement has been recomposed. The central question is how and why did this movement change? And what are its consequences and limits?

Extraits

[...] The question is whether this cleavage between secularists and Islamists has blocked the process of improving women's rights, or if Tunisian society has reached compromises and progressed despite it. I also question the advances that have been made under the new government of Tunisian President Essebsi and the persistent limits to women's rights nowadays, since the adoption of the constitution does not necessarily mean its effectiveness Historical reminder: continuity and rupture of the battle for equality A. The 1956 Personal Status Code and some others elements of top down policy The Personal Status Code, a founding text promulgated in August 1956 and enacted in January 1957, gave more rights to women and is still in effect today. [...]

[...] In just a few months, the party convinced the public to trust it and won 41% of the seats in the National Constituent Assembly in 2011, which caused the consternation of the West. Feminists have feared that Ennahda will question the achievements about women's rights that have taken place since the Personal Status Code in 1956. Their fears have been confirmed in some sort. The majority of women elected to the National Constituent Assembly came from Ennahda. However, these women did not defend the global rights of women in the first version of the Tunisian Constitution. [...]

[...] Histoire‚ femmes et sociétés. doi: 10.4000 /clio.286 Charrad, M. M., Zarrugh, A. (2013). The Arab Spring and Women's Rights in Tunisia, http://www.e-ir.info/2013/09/04/the-arab-spring-and-womens-rights- in-tunisia/ Chekir, H. (2016). Les droits des femmes en tunisie : Acquis ou enjeux politiques ? Hérodote, 160-161(1), 365-380. doi: 10.3917 /her Daniele, G. (2014). Tunisian Women's Activism after the January 14 Revolution: Looking within and towards the Other Side of the Mediterranean. [...]

[...] However, even if all of this represented a great advance, it resulted from what is called institutional feminism. In 2011, a break occurred since the society and women recovered the debate. B. The break in 2011: when society and women recovered the debate In 2011, it was no longer a question of top down policy: all segments of society were involved in the issue of women's rights (Charrad, 2013). It was no longer urban and educated women who were concerned, but all women. [...]

[...] Of course, not all Islamists can be put in the same basket. Among these Islamists, there are different sensibilities. We can distinguish two major groups. The first group rejects the modernist and feminist project, believing that this project does not conform to the Arab-Muslim identity of Tunisia. This group is made up of associations that carry out proselytizing activities and who favor practices such as excision, the wearing of the veil by little girls, the non-mixity – which means the separation of men and women in public spaces. [...]