Date: Thursday, 10 August Tunisia made historic strides by passing its first national law to combat violence against women on 26 July, The long-awaited legislation, which passed with votes out of and zero abstentions, takes a comprehensive approach by combining measures for prevention of violence and support for survivors.
The new violence against women law adopts a broad definition of violence. In addition to physical violence, the law recognizes other forms of violence against women and girls, including economic, sexual, political and psychological. It also provides for new protection mechanisms that will enable survivors to access the necessary services and legal and psychological assistance.
Furthermore, the law eliminates impunity for perpetrators of violence, for example, by amending the article of the penal code, which pardoned a perpetrator of a sexual act with a minor when the perpetrator married his victim. The passing of the law follows several years of advocacy efforts led by Tunisian civil society and national institutions, in collaboration with international organizations, including UN Women.
Prior to this law, the only progressive legislation that promoted gender equality was the Code of Personal Status, which abolished polygamy, established the minimal age for marriage, introduced the requirement of mutual consent of both parties for a marriage, and created a judicial procedure for divorce. UN Women also supported the development of advocacy tools, including a guidance for parliamentarians on the international standards to combat violence against women and an article-by-article analysis of the draft law which was then submitted by the UN System to the Assembly of People's Representatives Tunisian parliament.
Pointing to several recent studies, including the national survey on violence against women in , which estimated that nearly 50 per cent of Tunisian women have experienced violence in their lifetime, Member of Parliament, Bochra Belhaj Hmida said: "This is why the establishment of a legal framework against violence was needed.
