Aswat Nissa
In light of the first democratic elections in the country, Aswat Nissa lauched an awareness-raising campaign called “Sama3 Soutek” (meaning “Let your voice be heard”) aiming to mobilize women on the importance of their civil participation as electors. Aswat Nissa travelled throughout the country and visited places where women would be found (hammams, factories, and households) in order to gather as many women as possible.
This campaign called “If you don’t care about the elections..?” aimed to encourage the youth to register as voters for the October 2014 Tunisian elections.
Using its various social media platforms, this campaign was lauched during the Women’s Political Academy to highlight the importance of having women hold decision-making positions.
In 2014, in light of the upcoming democratic elections – the second ones in the history of Tunisia – Aswat Nissa launched the second edition of its awareness-raising campaign called “Sama3 Soutek” (meaning “Let your voice be heard”) aiming to:
During the International Women’s Rights Day, Aswat Nissa distributed postcards to Parliament deputies. Those postcards contained statistics on various issues in relation to women’s rights.
The awareness-raising campaign “Great on paper, but how is it in reality?” was largely spread on social media during the National Women’s Day in Tunisia, on August 13th, 2015. This campaign denounced the gap between the fairly egalitarian laws in Tunisia and the daily struggles experienced by women.
Tunisia is generally recognized amongst the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries as a leader with regards to women’s rights and gender equality. This reputation is due to the adoption of the Personal Status Code in 1956 which abolished polygamy and gave considerable rights to women in divorce instances. The Personal Status Code greatly contributed to the emancipation of Tunisian women. The 2014 Constitution reaffirmed that progressive position by enshrining principles of equality and of non-discrimination. On paper, Tunisia is a model for gender equality.
However, this flawless picture is far from what is truly experienced by Tunisian women in their daily lives. In 2014, Tunisia was ranked 123rd out of 142 countries on the international scale assessing gender inequality with regards to access to health, education, economic opportunities, and political empowerment. In other words, Tunisia isn’t doing as great as it formally seems.
The campaign contained images of the current situation of women in Tunisia, thus evidencing that despite its good reputation, there is still a long way to go to reach equality. The situation hasn’t evolved since the adoption of the Personal Status Code. It is therefore time for Tunisians to go beyond the status quo and to adopt concrete measures to combat inequalities.
During the International Women’s Rights Day, Aswat Nissa launched an awareness-raising campaign on social media: pictures of men supporting the cause of gender equality were taken in the Medina of Tunis.
In 2018, Aswat Nissa participated in the international campaign of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, that started on the 25th of November (on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) and ended on the 10th of December (on the Human Rights Day). These sixteen days of activism were a great opportunity to raise awareness on violence committed against women, and to act to eliminate such violence. We successfully organized many activities, such as a solidary picnic, an introductory class to self-defense and the launch of a feminist Book Club.
As part of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Aswat Nissa organized a solidary picnic in the Belvedere Park. This event gathered many participants in a safe space where they could freely share their experiences and their opinions on the application of the Organic Law relative to the elimination of violence against women (and its necessary funding), on the importance of education, and on gender stereotypes present within the Tunisian society. A psychologist and a legal expert were present to support the survivors and to enrich the conversation. This picnic encouraged many women victims of acts of violence to testify. Aswat Nissa received a number of calls afterwards from women victim of violence: we oriented them towards specialized centers.
On the 7th and 8th of December, we organized two free introductory classes of self-defense for women and girls. Each class lasted for two hours and was given by an instructor in kick-boxing, Fahmi. The classes started with a focus group so as to allow participants to share experiences and past insecurities.
The goal was to raise awareness on acts of violence committed against women and on the general feeling of insecurity felt by women in public places.
On December 10th, Aswat Nissa launched its feminist Book Club. To end the 16 days of activism, Aswat Nissa launched an event that would continue throughout the year. The December 10th event was an occasion for Aswat Nissa to present itself and to receive reading propositions for its Book Club. The first selected book was a short novel by Fatima Mernissi, a Moroccan writer, sociologist and feminist. The Book Club will meet in January 2019 to talk about Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood.
Aswat Nissa also pressed for the true implementation of the Organic Law relative to the elimination of violence against women. Aswat Nissa asks for more transparency from the government and for the adoption of a gender-sensitive approach in public policy and in budgeting.
You can read our article in French by clicking on this link.
To celebrate the International Women’s Day on March 8th 2019, Aswat Nissa in collaboration with Ciné-Citoyen and the Maghreb Cultural Centre organized a cinematographic event dedicated to short films directed by Tunisian women. This event, entitled Le cinéma tunisien au féminin – سينما في صيغة المؤنث, took place at the Maghreb Cultural Centre of Ibn Khaldoun. This event highlighted the excellent work of 11 female Tunisian directors and the themes they addressed in their short films, notably socio-economic problems facing Tunisian women.
Aswat Nissa joined the advocacy movement supporting the inclusion of horizontal parity in the Electoral Code for the Municipal Elections. This would encourage women’s, youth’s, and disabled people’s representation on the list of candidates. The advocacy campaign was led by the supported by more than forty national, regional, and international organizations, with Women on the Frontline as a key partner. Legal experts and activists took part in the movement and issued multiple policy briefs.
An important press conference took place on May 10th to officially launch the campaign. Aswat Nissa organized meetings with MPs and various Parliamentary committees to discuss gender parity in political institutions and women’s participation in decision-making positions.
The campaign was quite successful and led many politicians to endorse the concept of gender-parity proposed by the coalition. This campaign contributed significantly in the Assemblée des Représentants du Peuple’s adoption on June 15th, 2016 of a law disposition on horizontal parity, with 127 votes in favor (95% in favor).