Following the independence movement that brought an end to the colonial protectorate, the first President of the Tunisian Republic, Habib Bourguiba, promulgated the Code of Personal Status (CPS) and launched a vast program to modernize society (Bessis 1999). This set of progressive laws included the right to divorce and the prohibition of polygamy, repudiation and forced marriage.Footnote 6
Tunisian women first obtained the right to vote in 1959 and the right to abortion in 1973, giving Tunisian women unprecedented rights in the Arab world. However, it should be noted that the promotion of these rights was not solely thanks to Habib Bourguiba, but also supported by several women who had accompanied and assisted the national struggle for independence. It was during this struggle for the country’s independence in the 1940s that they were given the opportunity to be actively militant. Several women of the Tunisian bourgeoisie participated in the national liberation movement by collecting donations for Tunisian resistance fighters, opening reception centers for children and most importantly demanding their rights to citizenship (Camau and Geisser 2004). However, once independence was achieved, they were immediately disillusioned by the establishment of a one-party political power that not only betrayed the causes for which it had long fought, but also blocked all initiatives for democratization and emancipation. Habib Bourguiba made the best use of Tahar Haddad’s enlightened ideas, which forged his image as the “father of the fatherland” and “liberator of Tunisian woman”. It should however be noted that his policy sought to limit the social and political significance of Islam rather than to truly dissociate himself from the religious system that created patriarchal attitudes and gender-related stereotypes.
At that time, the CPS was considered a bold act in favor of gender equality in many areas but unfortunately its promises remained unfulfilled.
Habib Bourguiba’s successor Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fueled ambiguity as to the place that women should occupy in society. He criticized what he saw as the “secular excesses” of his predecessor while glorifying Tunisia’s Arab-Muslim identity, but nevertheless declared his attachment to the CPS following pressure from academics. “There will be no questioning or abandonment of what Tunisia has been able to achieve for the benefit of women and the family”. (Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, cited by Mahfoudh and Mahfoudh 2014, translated from French).
In fact, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali sought to please both the modernists who wanted to maintain the CPS, a symbol of the country’s modernity, and the conservatives who called for its revision. In the end, after some hesitation, he embraced both modernity and its contradictions by building, perhaps more than his predecessor, his reputation on his policy towards women (Bessis 1999). However, as he was not entirely committed to the women’s cause and was rather more careful of the demands of the Islamists, he invalidated a series of decisions previously taken (Khiari 2003). This helped preserve the conservative mindset of a segment of Tunisian society strongly influenced by the rise of Islamism during the 1980s.
The principle of equality between men and women was nevertheless confirmed by the 1988 National Pact and the principle of a couples’ joint family responsibility was introduced in 1993. Tunisia also ratified the United Nations Convention on the Prohibition of all Discrimination against Women. With the creation of the Centre for Research, Studies, Documentation and Information on Women and the creation of the Ministry of Women and Family Affairs, Tunisia has now structures dedicated to women defending their citizenship rights. Furthermore, the amended Labor Code has affirmed the principle of non-discrimination between men and women in all aspects of work (access to employment, equal pay), both in the public and private sectors.
Thus, having supported “a greatly varying feminism” the two leaders, Habib Bourguiba and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, demonstrated political expediency (Khiari 2003). Habib Bourguiba, leading the way in the Arab World, promoted universal education and public health and created a true jurisprudence in terms of women’s emancipation. However, his governing led to a real ‘obstruction of politics’, mainly by suppressing any hope for a democratic transition in Tunisia. Camau and Geisser (2004) draw attention to the inherent contradictions in his policy: both emancipative and moralizing, advocating new rules of behavior while allowing conservatism to persist, affirming equality between men and women but turning a blind eye to new forms of discrimination.