President’s new constitution puts gender equality and women’s rights at risk

On 16 August, President Kais Saied’s new constitution came into effect containing provisions which could threaten gender equality and women’s rights. For example, Article 5 obligates the Tunisian state to ‘achieve the purposes of Islam in preserving the soul, honour, property, religion, and freedom’ (quoted from Human Rights Watch). Human rights organisations have expressed concerns that such an article could be used to restrict human rights, and in particular women’s rights and gender equality.

see Human Rights Watch , Amnesty International , FIDH

Initiatives to suport:

The Association Tunisienne des Femmes Démocrates published a feminist and rights-based reading of the proposed constitution (in Arabic)

Statement by Aswat Nissa entitled Kais Saied’s Constitutional Project: A Threat to Women’s Rights and Individual Freedoms

Joint statement by Tunisian CSOs opposing the proposed constitution (in Arabic)