WUNRN
TUNISIA - WOMEN MARCH TO DEMAND
LEGAL PROTECTION OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS
Thousands take to the streets over fears that equality
legislation will be scrapped to accommodate introduction of Islamic law.
Protesters
march through
Reuters in Tunis - guardian.co.uk,
Thousands of
Tunisians have rallied to protest against what they see
as a push by the Islamist-led government for constitutional changes that would
degrade women's status in one of the Arab world's most liberal nations.
The protest on Monday by 6,000
mostly Tunisian women is the latest twist in a row over the role of Islam in a
constitution being drawn up by a new assembly.
Tunisia's ruling Ennahda
Movement is under pressure from both hardline Salafi Muslims, who are calling
for the introduction of Islamic law, and secular opposition parties.
Activists
are unhappy with a stipulation in a draft of the constitution that considers
women to be "complementary to men" and want a pioneering 1956 law
that grant women full equality with men to remain in
place.
The protesters marched across
main routes in the capital
They carried banners reading:
"Rise up women for your rights to be enshrined in the constitution"
and "Ghannouchi clear off, Tunisian women are strong", referring to Ennahda's
leader, Rachid Ghannouchi.
Sami Layouni, 40, was one of the
few men attending the protest. "We are here to support women and to say
there are men who stand for women's rights," he said, carrying a placard
reading: "A woman is no complement, she is everything."
"We are proud of Tunisian
women … and we will not let Islamists turn our spring into a winter,"
Layouni added.
Carrying a placard that called
for equal rights, 52-year-old Fouzia Belgaid said last year's revolt should not
have led to such debate in Tunisian society. "Normally, more important
issues ought to be tackled like unemployment, regional development," she
said. "Ennahda seems bent on making steps backwards but we are here to say
that Tunisian women will not accept that. I fear for the future of my daughters
who may grow up in a totally different
Ennahda was banned under former
president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. After the leader was toppled in mass
protests that sparked the Arab spring last year, Ennahda won the most seats in
elections to a constituent assembly in October and formed a government in
coalition with two secular parties.
The party has promised not to
impose strict Muslim rules and to respect women's rights. One of its members,
Farida al-Obeidi, who chairs the assembly's human rights and public freedoms
panel, said the wording of the draft did not represent a backwards step for
Tunisian women.
The draft stipulates
"sharing of roles and does not mean that women are worth less than
men", she said.
Activists are concerned that once
approved, the new rules would lead to future setbacks. "Major retreats
usually begin with one step," said Ahlam Belhadj, who chairs the
Democratic Women's Association. "If we stay silent today, we will open the
door to everything else and end up surprised by even more serious
decisions," she said.
___________________________________________________________
On National Women’s Day,
UN Women congratulates the Government and people of Tunisia on their leadership
in women’s empowerment and gender equality
Calls on the Tunisian
people and Government to continue championing gender equality in the
constitutional revision process.
United Nations, New York— 13 August 2012 - On National Women’s
Day, UN Women recognizes and applauds the historic role Tunisia has played in
the region as a pioneer for gender equality and women’s rights.
UN Women joins Tunisian women and
men, civil society, and national leadership in marking the 1956 Personal Status
Code, the groundbreaking law that enshrined the principle of equality of men
and women and granted Tunisian women the rights that they have enjoyed since
then for more than a half century.
Women played — and continue to
play — a key role as leaders of change in Tunisia, from the streets to the
ballot boxes to the decision-making bodies responsible for rebuilding a
democratic state and inclusive political institutions accountable to all of its
citizens.
UN Women is committed to
supporting Tunisian women and civil society to participate meaningfully in
these processes and to carry forward and advance the rights that Tunisian women
have long cherished.
The passage of the unprecedented
parity electoral law in April 2011 reaffirmed Tunisia’s continued leadership in
advocating for the equal rights of men and women and their participation at all
levels of public decision making.
In tribute to these resounding
achievements, UN Women turns to the Government and the people of Tunisia for
their continued championing of women’s empowerment and equality in the
constitutional revision process and public life at large.