Zohour Al-Mashriqi
Tunis_The year 2025 was far from easy for Tunisian women, whether as citizens or as active participants in civil society. It was marked by field and legislative restrictions, and intensified repression through punitive decrees—most notably Decree No. 54, which gagged activists’ voices, and Decree No. 88, which restricted freedom of association and led to the closure of organizations such as the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women and Aswat Nissa, among others, in a clear attempt to silence them.

Through these measures, the authorities sought to silence abused women, working women, and female farmers, and to deny murdered women their right to justice, in a country that witnessed the killing of nearly thirty women in just one year.

Feminist organizations in Tunisia describe 2025 as the most difficult year ever in terms of repression and arrests targeting civil society activists and defenders of public and individual freedoms. This was compounded by a retreat in defending hard-won gains or creating new ones, due to a policy of constant distraction. Activists became preoccupied with clearing their names of accusations and confronting campaigns of treason and violence directed at them, fueled by a patriarchal society that legitimizes violence against women.

The year 2025 was not a rosy one for women. Rates of violence doubled, with 1,000 cases recorded compared to 580 in 2024, according to the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women. Aswat Nissa reported the killing of 27 women in 2025, while Ministry of Family and Women figures confirmed that 70% of reported violence cases faced obstacles in access to justice. This is compounded by the justification of violence through religious and social discourse that normalizes hatred and violence against women.

Clear Targeting of the Feminist Movement—Yet It Resists

Feminist activist Henda Channawi, representative of the Lina Ben Mhenni Association, stated that the feminist movement is subject to systematic targeting through laws and inciting political rhetoric that fuels hatred against women and spreads accusations of treason. She explained that justice and the law—institutions activists have lost trust in—are being used as tools to weaken their activities and undermine organizations.
“The judiciary is exploited to strip civil society of its independence, despite its struggle across various fields to defend oppressed and abused women,” she said.

She emphasized that activists continue to struggle despite all obstacles, resisting for the sake of revolutionary Tunisia—dignity, social justice, and freedom. She described the freezing of associations’ activities, the closure of their offices, and the shutdown of parliament and public institutions as an unprecedented and dangerous policy adopted by the authorities this year. She called for unity to prevent the re-freezing of activities, despite ideological and political differences:
“We must be one united hand against repression and tyranny.”

Channawi added that despite differing orientations, all feminists and organizations agree there is a real threat facing civil society work that must be denounced and exposed. She recalled the plight of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience—women jailed for helping migrants from sub-Saharan Africa in Tunisia—calling for their release and the restoration of their dignity as human rights and women’s rights defenders.
“They are an inseparable part of the revolution that proclaimed dignity for all, without exception or discrimination—and dignity for migrants who die at our borders.”

She called for lifting restrictions on associations in general, and on the feminist movement in particular, and for the release of activists from all political, civil, human rights, and feminist backgrounds.

Between the Dream of Free Expression and the Intimidation of Women

Journalist and women’s rights activist Yousra Bellali considered recent years the hardest and heaviest for women in Tunisia, both in terms of their achievements and the movement defending them. She noted that the escalation of femicides was the most painful headline, alongside rising rates of violence in all its forms—fueled by women’s limited access to justice.

She pointed out that associations faced repeated restrictions, including the freezing and suspension of activities for a month, obstruction due to their positions, and the halting of funding—seriously threatening their continuity.

Bellali also highlighted the extreme difficulty faced by women journalists working in the field without protection, professional press cards, or official journalist credentials, which normally facilitate work and reduce security harassment.

She explained that women journalists are caught between shrinking freedoms and difficulties obtaining permits, and a reality of violence and declining gains. They are viewed as responsible for conveying the truth, exposing abuses, and presenting reality as it is—without embellishment.

She added that women journalists face pressure when addressing feminist issues, as the women they interview often present narratives that differ from the official state narrative. These overlapping challenges, she said, cast a heavy shadow over women’s lives.

Bellali noted that the suspension of activities by the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women and Aswat Nissa led to the closure of listening centers for abused women—posing a direct threat to their lives. She warned that the absence of journalistic coverage of violence may contribute to its escalation, stressing that all these issues are closely interconnected.

Civil Society Between Freezing and Accusations

Raja Dhamani, president of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women, believes that human rights and feminist organizations are facing a political, economic, and social crisis—not a new phenomenon. Since its founding in 1989, the association has struggled against injustice under pressure from authorities, dictatorships, and even during the revolutionary period, facing political and ideological targeting yet remaining resilient against reactionary and right-wing currents.

She explained that restrictions continue to this day, noting that the association’s activities were abruptly frozen for an entire month by a political decision, just before the launch of the international campaign to combat violence against women—one of the most significant challenges faced by activists.

This suspension disrupted activities and undermined the continuity of services provided to women victims of violence, detainees, working women, and other marginalized groups.
“Despite the disruption, we remain steadfast and resistant, continuing to confront anything that undermines women’s real issues. We reject any regression and will continue defending public and individual rights, social justice, and fair trials,” she said.

Dhamani added that women prisoners of conscience and political detainees remain behind bars, and activists will continue to defend them and amplify their silenced voices until their release.
“Imprisoning activists for their opinions is unacceptable. In revolutionary Tunisia, we cannot be jailed for our views. We believe in the constitutional right to freedom of expression, thought, and opinion, and we reject prosecuting women for their political stances.”

The Feminist Movement After July 25: Focus on Regression, Not Development

Sociologist and activist within the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women, Fathia Saidi, explained that after July 25, 2021—the date parliament was shut down—the feminist movement became primarily preoccupied with setbacks to women’s rights. This followed amendments to the electoral law that abolished one of the most important revolutionary gains: horizontal and vertical gender parity in political participation.

She added that daily struggles against violence persist, but this year witnessed an unprecedented rise in political violence against women, as defined by Law No. 58 of 2017 on combating violence against women. Feminist voices increasingly denounced the imprisonment of activists for their opposition to the authorities.

“This year, political violence against women reached unprecedented levels. More than 20 women activists are imprisoned for their opinions or human rights, media, or political activities—this is the most dangerous reality we face today,” she said.
She warned that this has created a chilling effect, discouraging women from activism or even expressing opinions out of fear of legal persecution, in a country where women’s participation in public space remains weaker than during the early revolutionary years, and where a division persists between a public space for men and a private one for women.

Saidi noted that abolishing gender parity resulted in a parliament nearly devoid of women, compared to previous years when women’s representation reached 33% in 2014 and 44% in the 2018 municipal elections. She stressed that this revolutionary and rights-based achievement has been completely dismantled.
“Parity was a local strategy that enabled women’s effective political participation. Eliminating it is deeply regrettable. Today, we are witnessing regression on all levels, and with imprisonment and arrests, the danger grows—we may return to stereotypes confining women to the home, which is our greatest fear as activists.”

She concluded that freezing feminist organizations’ activities this year narrowed civic space and weakened women’s motivation, fueling fear and hesitation between participation and withdrawal. Some specialists working with survivors of violence, as well as doctors cooperating with associations, chose to withdraw out of fear of losing their primary jobs. Threats pushed others to distance themselves from civil society work, despite its humanitarian nature. These pressures, she warned, have led to a dangerous and unprecedented decline in women’s presence in civic and public life.