Tunisia Is a Shining Example of Tolerance, Unless You're a Woman or Gay

Meriem Ben Mohamed was 27 when she was raped by two police officers in 2012. When the Tunisian woman went to report the crime, she was charged with indecency. Outrage at her treatment spread across social media, making headlines the world over and causing media attention to flick—albeit briefly—from the cataclysm of the then ongoing Arab Spring. The police officers were arrested, and President Moncef Marzouki apologized to Mohamed personally.

Three years after the attack, US Secretary of State John Kerry describes Tunisia as a "shining example to those who claim that democracy is not possible in this part of the world." But for many women and members of the LGBT community, Kerry's praise doesn't match the reality of life in the country. As a new report from Amnesty International warns that legal loopholes and outdated cultural attitudes are allowing rapists to evade justice, Broadly spoke to experts to find out what needs to be done to keep women and LGBT people in Tunisia safe.

Widely viewed as the most progressive country in the Middle East, Tunisians are proud of their secular traditions, which came out of the nation's French colonial heritage. Across the Arab world, Tunisia is seen to be the leader on advancing women's rights and gender equality. Women have had access to free contraception and abortion since 1973, and the country abolished the law requiring women to obey their husbands in 1993. In 2014, it also adopted a new constitution that guaranteed gender equality under the law.

Broadly spoke to Magda Mughrabi, author of the Amnesty report, to learn why Tunisian women and LGBT people are still at risk. "Over the years we've seen positive reforms. But despite these advances, Tunisia remains a patriarchal society that abides by conservative social norms and anyone who deviates from these will be discriminated against."

In particular, the law fails to protect people from sexual violence, and Mughrabi would like to see the definition of rape amended under Tunisian law. "Legally, rape in Tunisia is understood to involve force. But rape should be understood in terms of an absence of consent, according to international recognized standards."

It's not just women at risk. Mughrabi tells me of a gay Tunisian man who was raped and was threatened with prosecution when he reported it to the police. As all forms of same-sex relations are illegal in Tunisia, LGBT survivors of sexual violence are often turned away by police or even prosecuted when coming forward to report crimes.

But would changing the law actually protect people? Dr Jonathan Hill of Kings College London is an expert in the region. He tells me that even when laws are in place, "the problem is putting them into practice. Even if marital rape were to be criminalised in Tunisia, for example, encouraging women to come forward and report it would still be difficult—they wouldn't have confidence the police would deal with it sensitively, and there's a lot of stigma."

When discussing Tunisian attitudes towards rape, it's important to remember that Western countries haven't got their shit in order either, if our conviction rates are anything to go by. But while it is right to stay mindful of cultural sensitivities, Hill argues that "if you believe in universal rights, you shouldn't shy away from encouraging Arab countries to reform."

One area of possible reform Mughrabi singles out is a law that allows rapists to avoid prosecution if they marry their victim, providing she's under the age of 20. "The problem," she explains, "is that very often women face social or family pressure to marry their rapists due to the stigma that exists around sexual assault in Tunisian culture."

As in the UK, where women are statistically most likely to be killed by a husband or boyfriend, Tunisian women are also frequently subject to intimate partner abuse. Mughrabi identifies a "cycle of violence" that traps many women in abusive relationships. "47 percent of Tunisian women have been the victims of violence, often from their husbands. This is why we need to criminalize marital rape, as well as tackling the cultural factors which prevent women from coming forward to report crimes."

Dr Hill also points to structural factors embedding violence against women into the fabric of Tunisian society. "Although arguably Tunisian women are better off than their peers in the Arab world, there are still strong conservative and religious currents at work that threaten these rights."

Ultimately, the fight to protect Tunisians from sexual violence is caught up in the wider political struggles of the region. Dr Hill warns that, with Tunisia under attack from dual extremist movements—ISIS in Libya, and AQIM in Algeria—women's rights could get pushed off the agenda as the authorities deal with a burgeoning security crisis.

"As we saw with yesterday's bus attack, things are extremely volatile in Tunisia right now. The government is extremely jumpy, and they're passing dogmatic laws to counter the terrorism threat that could erode civil liberties."

In the face of an ongoing terror threat, it looks likely that women could be the real losers. "Unfortunately, it's very possible that women's rights won't be a priority [for the Government] any more," Dr Hill said. "The security situation means that these things could be pushed onto the back burner—and stay there for a while."