Abstract
Tunisia has come a long way towards achieving gender equality and remains a prominent example to other Arab countries in this experience. Meanwhile, Tunisia still takes only modest positions in international rankings on various indexes measuring gender gap. This work examines, with the help of a comparative-historical method, the formation of the women's movement in Tunisia and the development of legislation on gender equality. Then, through statistical data the author outlines the extent of women's economic, social, and political participation, and, finally, referring to the "concept of representation" by Hanna F. Pitkin (1967), the author looks at the pre-election programs of political parties that won the 2019 parliamentary elections, in order to assess the perception of the problem of women's emancipation in Tunisian society on the whole. As a result of the research, the author comes to the conclusion that, despite progressive legislative framework guaranteeing women's rights, the mass consciousness of Tunisians maintains a set of ideas and norms on gender inequality generated by Islamic tradition and fostering the discrepancy, first in the existing legislation and the objective reality, and secondly, between the rules of family law containing elements of Sharia, and the provisions of the Constitution, as well as the accepted international obligations.
Highlights
Tunisia's experience as an Islamic country, where men and women have almost equal legal rights for more than half a century, is unique
In 1956, at the dawn of independence, the Code of Personal Status (CPS) was introduced in the Republic, under which Tunisian women were entitled to education, employment, marriage on their own decision and even divorce, which was rare for a Muslim country
An amendment to the CPS providing inheritance gender-equality would be a triumph of democratic values in Tunisia
Summary
Tunisia's experience as an Islamic country, where men and women have almost equal legal rights for more than half a century, is unique. Gender equality in Tunisia has since been strengthened, but the Arab Spring and the ascension of Islamists to power after 2011 have once again put the issue of women's place in society on the agenda. The crisis of identity at a tipping point was not resolved by the triumph of traditional values. In 2015, the post of mayor of the capital for the first time went to a woman - Souad Abderrahim, a member of the Islamist Ennahda movement. In 2019 during the regular general elections the essential point of any electoral campaign was the position on the inheritance gender-equality bill. An amendment to the CPS providing inheritance gender-equality would be a triumph of democratic values in Tunisia. To what extent does this legislative initiative reflect the current situation and what are the main trends in the focus of gender balance in contemporary Tunisia?
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