Case studies

• Author: Deniz Devrim - Roland Blomeyer - Paul Dalton - Senni Mut-Tracy
• Pages: 57-66

Discriminatory Laws Undermining Women’s Rights

57

A recent EP Study on the E P democr acy support activities identified the MEPs’ political perspective and

approach as the EP’s distinct comparative advantage, together with the MEPs’ understanding of how the

funct ioning of pa rliame nt fa cilitate s a demo cratic polit ical pr ocess, in cluding throu gh cons ensus building.

This ability of MEPs to work with their peers in othe r par liamen ts g ives t hem a comparative advantage in

dialogue and exchange o n issues related t o gender equality in law. Further more, the EP brings political

lever age t o its activit ies, in cluding thr ough th e invo lvement of p olitical p art ies an d their net works136.

The EP’s capacit y build ing to ol, centred around peer-to-peer exchanges between MEPs and MPs from third

country parliaments, represents an important add ed value to the Eu ropean Commission’s development

cooperation and financial assistance. The EUDs s hould a lways con sider the EP’s comparative advantage

when engaging on law reform processes in third countries. Where EU actors on the ground believe that

reaching out to the legislative on a peer-to-peer bas is could have t he potential to adva nce the gender

equality law agenda, the EP should be consulted and informed.

It mu st nevert heless be kept in mind that t he resources of t he EP to engage in dem ocracy support in third

coun tries are a nd will rem ain lim ited. The EP’s inter-parliamentary delegations and pa rt icipatio n in

parliamentary assemblies will th eref ore remain an important channel for its engagemen t in gender

equa lity in law, es pecially in countries with less fertile groun d for reform.

The ability of the EP to contribute directly to reform of laws that discriminate against women through the

democracy support activities of the DEG and through inter-parliamentary assemblies and delegations

becomes grea ter where ther e is more in-depth technical knowledge of the legislative issues u nder

discu ssio n. The refore, it is crucial that the European Commission always shares it technical knowledge on

gend er equ ality issues in t hird cou ntries with ME Ps – including the Country Gender Profiles. Thi s will enable

the EP t o go from generalities to specifics in their engagements on gender equality in law with third

coun tries ’ par liaments.

8 Case studies

8.1 Tunisia

Tunis ia ha s a lon g and proud t radition o f femin ist activ ism. The founding lea der o f Tunisia , Presiden t Habib

Bourguiba, considered the emancipation of women as a pr econdition for successful development of the

country. This policy o f ‘State-su pported feminism’ was continued by his s uccessor , President Zine el

Abidin e Ben Ali.

The principle of equality between men and women was enshrined in the first Tunisian constitution in 1956.

The Pers onal Status law ado pted at independence was one o f the most progressive in the Ar ab world,

pro hibitin g poly gamy an d ren unciatio n, requirin g the consent of both parties to a marriage, and granting

women the right to request divorce. Tunisian women gained access to birth control in 1962 and abortion

on r eques t was legalis ed in Tu nisia in 1973, the f irst Muslim count ry t o do s o.

Tunis ia ra tified CEDAW in 1985 and the Maputo Protocol to the African Charter in 2018. Tunisia withdrew

all s pecific r eserva tions made o n ratificatio n to the CE DAW in 2014, bu t contin ues to ma intain a general

declaration that it will ‘not take any take any action or adopt any law in accordance with the requirements

of the Convention’, where such a decision would conflict with the Constitutional provision that the religion

of the country is Islam.

136 RUTHRAU FF, Hol ly, CROZI ER, Sarah, R OBERTS, Hannah: EP Democr acy support acti viti es and their follow-up, and prospect s for

the future, European Parliament Study, Directorate General for External Policies, January 2019.