A young Tunisian YouTuber decided to tackle this topic, which is largely taboo in the nation, in a video entitled "Mekch Rajel,” which means "you’re not a man" in the Tunisian dialect.
On Monday, January 27th, Tunisia lost one of its most prominent feminist activists: Lina ben Mhenni died at the age of 36 after a long battle with lupus, a chronic systemic autoimmune disease she was diagnosed with at 11 years old.
Tunisian women from different ages and backgrounds have begun to share their sexual harassment stories on social media under the hashtag #EnaZeda — which means #MeToo in the Tunisian dialect.
Radhia Jerbi is a prominent Tunisian feminist and lawyer who has served as the president of the National Union of the Tunisian Woman (NUTW) since 2013. Jerbi is also a member of the Human Rights League, the Maghrebian Women’s Union for Peace and Development, and the women’s section of the Lawyers’ General Council. Jerbi recently talked to the FBomb about everything the NUTW has been doing to guarantee gender equality and a secure future for Tunisian girls and women.
My great-grandmother is just one example of an underrepresented, underappreciated woman who fought her own feminist fight not in a big, public way, but bravely in her daily life. They are the feminists we never hear about, but whose voices surely deserve to be heard and celebrated.
In early May, a 19-year-old girl named Noura Hussein was sentenced to death by a court in Sudan. The verdict came after Hussein killed her husband, whom she was forced to marry at 15 and who allegedly raped her.
Ahed Tamimi is more than an emblem of Palestinian unity or a symbol of the resistance. She is an inspiring figure for all young feminists to look up to.
Many educational institutions in Tunisia — especially those in rural areas, where people are generally more conservative and traditional — separate girls and boys from each other within the same class so that female students won’t mix with the male students.
How I realized that “virginity” is a crucial element of a broader sexist culture that aims to oppress women through their bodies.