Gender Issue in Tunisia: from Politics to Practice

Abstract

On the problem of gender equality, Tunisia remains a model for other Arab countries. Although since 2011 the issue of women's place has once again been on the agenda considering the dominance in the political scene of moderate Islamists of the Ennahda movement, heated debates between modernists and Islamists over new constitution and legislation framework brought Tunisia closer to world standards of gender equality. After the Revolution for Dignity and Freedom in Tunisia the feminist movement, which was born in the late 1930s, became more active and began declaring its activities as democratic feminism. Besides that, a new trend established itself as Islamic feminism. The analyses of statistical material revealed that most prominent achievements in concern of gender equality Tunisia gained in educational field with almost parity of male and female enrollment. On the other hand, discrimination in labour market gives cause for concern. As for political participation of women, it is still under desired level, but the dynamics is rather hopeful. The investigation of parliamentarians’ stances towards a proposed in 2017 bill requiring gender inheritance equality, shew that Tunisian society is still not ready to accept absolute gender equality because in some matters like inheritance it tends to hang upon religious norms and traditions. Thus, stereotypes and traditional perception of gender based on Islam remain a stumbling rock on the way to gender balance in society. Another corresponding problem is discrepancy in provisions of family law and undertaken international commitments dealing with narrowing gender gap. So, it’s predictable that while being in the top pf international ratings at the regional level Tunisia’s indicators measuring gender equality are rather moderate on the global scale.