ZOUHOUR MECHERGUI

Tunisia- Tunisian Minister Family, Women, Children and the Elderly, Amal Belhaj Moussa has announced that the “Al Amen” center, which activities were stopped, will be reopened for women victims of violence in Tunis, the capital and largest city of Tunisia. The ministry signed a partnership agreement with the Tunisian Association for Management & Social Stability (TAMSS). This agreement allows the association to manage the center in order to host women victims of violence and their children for three years. Three women have been chosen for the management of the center. Amal Belhaj Moussa also said that the ministry has worked to provide better and safer temporary living conditions for women victims of violence and their children. The center will provide legal guidance, legal cooperation, and social integration, as well as medical, psychological, and social care services.

“The center has hosted 581 victims of violence”

Feminist activist Hayat Ben Omer spoke to JINHA about the decision of the ministry. Stating that the reopening the center will contribute to alleviating the pressure on the Association Beity, a non-profit organization fighting discrimination, gender-based violence in Tunisia, to receive the applications from the women victims of violence, Hayat Ben Omer said that the AL Amen center is the first national center for women victims of violence. “Since its foundation in 2016, this center has hosted 581 victims of violence, including 252 children. The center includes a multidisciplinary room, a sewing workshop, a media club, and two living units with a capacity of 30 beds,” she said.

“The Ministry should allocate a budget”

Noting that the number of shelters in Tunisia has decreased significantly, Jannat Kedashi, president of the Association of Voix d'Ève, said that there is only a shelter and this causes a big problem. “The ministry should allocate a budget to increase the number of shelters. The reopening of the center is an important step,” she told us.

“Violence against women increases”

Feminist activist and sociologist Rahma bin Suleiman pointed out that despite the ratification of the law protecting women against violence by the Tunisian Parliament, gender-based violence increases in the public sphere as well as in the private sphere. “Men know that when they inflict violence against women, women don’t have any space to go. That’s why violence against women increases. Reopening of Al Amen center will reduce the number of women victims of violence,” she said.