This year, during the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence – from 25 November to 10 December – the EuroMed Rights office in Tunisia did not stay inactive. It joined forces with several national and international organisations, as well as local authorities, to highlight women’s rights and protection mechanisms for women victims of violence.
The implementation of the Organic Law 2017-58 on the elimination of violence against women was at the heart of a seminar organised on 25 November by the Tunisian office of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), with the participation of EuroMed Rights. This law defines violence broadly, considering physical, moral, sexual, economic and political violence. The next day, in collaboration with the Ministry of Women, FES and UN Women, EuroMed Rights organised a meeting-debate on the National Observatory to combat violence against women in order to define partnerships and elaborate strategies, in the presence of the Observatory president, Ms Monia Karri.
On 2 and 3 December in Sbeïtla, a town in central Tunisia, a training session on women’s right to access to justice, organised by EuroMed Rights in partnership with FES, UN Women and Thala Solidaire, was meant for civil society activists active in the governorates of the centre-west of the country.
Back in Tunis, a new meeting-debate with women workers in the agricultural and industrial sectors was held at the head office of the Mornag municipality, in partnership with the association “Together for Citizenship and Change” and UN Women.
Finally, on 9 and 10 December in Ben Arous, in the Tunis agglomeration, the last activity undertaken in the framework of these 16 days of activism was a new training on women’s right to access to justice, this time for the members of the regional coordination to combat violence against women in Ben Arous, with the participation, once again, of the association Thala Solidaire, FES and UN Women.
All these activities have raised awareness of the phenomenon of gender-based violence in Tunisia and contributed to forging sustainable partnerships to fight against this social scourge.