The Developments of Trafficking in Women in Post-Revolution Tunisia

Abstract

The Tunisian Uprising of 2011 played as a catalyst in relation to the development of trafficking in women into reaching today's notions, categories and numbers of victims. The increase in the rate of female victims of trafficking at the local and transnational levels has urged the Tunisian authorities to pay more attention to the shortcomings of the laws and the legal national framework in general. This study will discuss the historical and legal developments of the issue of trafficking in women in Tunisia. It will explore the case studies of certain categories of local and transnational female victims and focus on the re-victimization of women throughout the trafficking process and after. My research will depend basically on first-hand resources for accurate, yet new information, statistics and testimonies. I obtained my information through interviewing governmental and non-governmental officials. I have reached out to all concerned civil society actors who work on the issue of trafficking for statistics and data relevant to victims and traffickers and also in an attempt to know the role these actors play in fighting trafficking. This research depends on official data from different governmental bodies, mainly the Ministry of Interior and Justice. I am using also newspapers articles and things written on the different forms of internal and transnational trafficking in Tunisia like the Jihad al-Nikah3 and forced prostitution, and others examples. I managed to collect data through conducting interviews with officials, getting statistics and having access to law cases from Tunisian courts.