Since the very first demonstrations of the 2010-2011 revolution, Tunisian women have taken to the public space to demand their right to dignity. After taking part in the revolutionary process from the beginning, women continue to fight today for gender equality in a society that remains strongly patriarchal. In this post-revolutionary context, a national survey (the first ever in the Arab world) was conducted between 2014 and 2016 by a team of university researchers in collaboration with the Center for Research, Studies, Documentation and Information on Women (CREDIF) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) with the aim of reporting on the different types of violence against women in the public space in Tunisia. This article presents the main results of this research and shows that, although the revolutionary process has given women the opportunity to consolidate their rights, their presence in the public space is still controlled by men. Violence, whether real or perceived by women, is the instrument of gendered control over bodies.
- Gender-based violence
- Public space
- Tunisia
- Revolution
- Politics