Tunisia: Understanding Conflict 2012 - Johns Hopkins School of ...

In immediate post-revolutionary Tunisia, women started to form the heart of the struggle
between secularists and Islamists, most notably through debates about the niqab in
schools and Ennahdha’s questionable stance on laws about polygamy and adoption by
single mothers.
The unilateral actions of the state also created a façade of sorts: from the outside,
it appears that the Tunisian population’s conception of women’s rights is uniform and
supportive of liberal policies, but this is far from the truth. Not only are some aspects of
Tunisia’s formal stance on women’s rights tenuous, but throughout history there has been
a consistent attempt by Islamist groups to reform family law so that it is more in line with
the shari’a. Extremist conservative elements have been stifled along with liberal voices,
and with their new freedom of expression, have begun to assert their views through
violent and disruptive mechanisms. Finally, because all women’s rights have been given
by the state, there have arisen no strong civil society organizations to counter any state
action; women themselves are disorganized, lacking in cohesion, and unable to channel
any unheard voices. All of this sets the tone for a post-revolutionary society that is
divided to say the least.
At the same time, those who claim the story of women’s rights is no story at all
are correct in some ways. Khedija Arfaoui, a leading women’s rights activist and member
of the ATFD, admits that, aside from a couple of key reforms, women in Tunisia are the
“most spoiled” of all women in the Arab World (SAIS Group Meeting, 23 January 2012).
Even those people who expressed the deepest concerns about the future of women’s
rights noted that such concerns may not be justified in the short term. Because suspicion
of Ennahdha is fresh and the appetite for revolution remains strong, most believe that
despite questionable stances taken by members of Ennahdha, the group will not move to
change the CPS for fear of alienating moderate elements of their base. The general
feeling is that any steps back on the subject of women’s rights will occur through inaction
in the face of conservative elements, who are leading both visible short-term campaigns
through active demonstrations and subtle long-term campaigns through reforms of
mosques and schools. Any major changes, many concur, will occur somewhat
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