“Go back to your kitchens, you whores”: Women, Women’s Rights, and the Tunisian Revolution

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Robinson, Kellan
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Global Studies

Abstract

Women in Tunisia share a unique history in terms of rights due to their interconnected, but nuanced experiences under French colonialism, dictatorial regimes, and the Jasmine Revolution. Before the Arab Spring, Tunisian women had already experienced waves of comparatively progressive policies in relation to areas such as abortion and divorce. However, these policies were a product of actions from above, rather than of grassroots efforts from below. Furthermore, women’s rights policies came to fruition under the regimes of Habib Bourguiba and Zine Al- Abidine Bin Ali, which both employed a paternalistic state feminism that coopted already existing female organizations. This distinctive history and its implications are essential to examining the role that women played in the Jasmine Revolution. Women who fought in the movement that ousted Bin Ali were indispensable to the many spectrums of activism, while also facing forms of violence from both the regime and fellow male protestors. After the revolution ceased and a new constitution was written, more promises were made. But, unfortunately, the legal, written strides do not equate with appropriate implementation.

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