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Empowering Women Key to Achieving Development in Tunisia
Promoting women and enhancing their contribution to all fields, is the cornerstone of Tunisia’s social policy and is to achieving development in Tunisia.
Tunisian women’s increased presence in all sectors and fields of public life has substantially advanced the notion of gender equality. In higher education, female students represent 59.1% of the total number of students. In professional life, women represent 21% of civil service employees, 29% of judges, 31% of lawyers, 34% of journalists, 42% of doctors, 40% of university teachers, and 72% of pharmacists. There are also over 18,000 women heads of businesses and 1,500 women farmers.
Percentage of female students
Secondary Higher
1965-1966 25.6% 19.4%
1970-1971 27.6% 22%
1986-1987 43% 36%
2003-2004 53% 56.4%
2007-2008 53.3% 59.1%
Percentage of working women by age bracket
25-29 years 30-34 years
1975 21.2% 16.2%
1987 26.1% 20.9%
2001 38.4% 33.8%
2007 41.6% 37.3%
The special status enjoyed by Tunisian women is the result of a societal choice dating back to 1956, date of the adoption of the Code of Personal Status, a revolutionary legislation in the region. The Code abolished polygamy and repudiation, and made divorce decisions the sole prerogative of courts. Women enjoy the right to vote and to run for elective offices, as well as the right to education, to work, etc…
These gains have been further consolidated through measures taken by President Ben Ali of Tunisia who considers the promotion of women one of the tenets of his societal project based on inclusion and non-discrimination. Numerous measures have thus been adopted to guarantee equality of rights among citizens of both genders, and to ensure balanced relations within the family, the basic unit of society.
Since 1993, new provisions have been incorporated into the Code of Personal Status, including the principle of partnership and co-responsibility of the couple within the family. The principle of equality established by the Code has been extended to all fields of social life.
“Today, Tunisian women enjoy equal rights in all fields of public life. Indicators are quite telling: the schooling rate of six-year-old girls is the same as that of boys (99%). In secondary schools, the percentage of girls (53%) exceeds that of boys. The same holds true in higher education institutions where young women represent 59.1% of the total number of students.” Najat El Zayat, Tunisian teacher told Global Arab Network
In professional life, women stand out with their growing presence in all economic sectors. Certain provisions of the Code of Obligations and Contracts which are no longer compatible with women’s right to work have been repealed. Women currently represent more than a quarter of the total working population, and half of the teaching, medical and paramedical professions. Some 18,000 small and medium-sized businesses in the industrial, commercial and service sectors are currently run by women.
Tunisian women are also increasingly asserting their presence in political life. Seven women are members of Government. Within the new Parliament elected on October 24, 2004, 43 seats (out of 189) are held by women (22.7%). In the Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD – majority party), women represent 26.4% of the members of the Central Committee. In municipal councils, 27.7% of the seats are held by women, in conformity with the amended Electoral Code which guarantees for women at least 20% of the seats in municipal councils. Two women magistrates have, for the first time, been appointed: one in the position of General Prosecutor; the other as Director-General of the Higher Magistracy Institute.
This policy of women’s promotion has benefited society as a whole. It has allowed Tunisia to bring under control its demographic growth, and to keep it much below its economic growth. Standing out in their work, Tunisian women today play a vital role in societal progress, and in offering children a better level of care and education.
The Tunisian family has become a forum for social dialogue, and a fundamental factor of social cohesion. In 2003, a National Council for Women and the Family was established. It gives its opinion on the projects included in national plans for the promotion of women and the family, submits proposals concerning the general policy adopted in this field, and contributes to identifying the necessary measures for the implementation of this policy.
Since January 1st, 2007, a special system has been brought into effect, allowing mothers, if they wish, to work half-time for two thirds of the salary, while retaining all their rights in terms of retirement and social security protection. This system is designed to help women reconcile between their family life and professional life.
The different components of the population policy, including the universal schooling of girls, increasing women’s presence in the job market, and promoting mother and child healthcare programs, have changed the Tunisian family’s reproductive behavior, and brought down the population growth rate to 1.11% in 2007, against 3% in 1966.
Hannan Taha
Global Arab Network