Amnesty International has urged Tunisia to change its legislation to protect victims of gender-based violence, who are frequently punished and blamed when they report crimes.
“The leading Arab nation for gender equality is still failing to protect women who experience violence and people targeted for their gender identity, sexual orientation or sexual activity, due to flawed laws and entrenched discriminatory attitudes,” said the London-based rights group.
The Tunisian penal code allows a rapist to escape prosecution by marrying his victim if she is younger than 20 years old, Amnesty said in its report.
The Deputy Director of Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa Programme Said Boumedouha said that women who report marital rape or family violence are shamed into withdrawing their complaints
Based on interviews it conducted on victims, the London-based rights group said, “The leading Arab nation for gender equality is still failing to protect women who experience violence and people targeted for their gender identity, sexual orientation or sexual activity, due to flawed laws and entrenched discriminatory attitudes.”
Amnesty went ahead to report that victims fear police almost as much as their attackers, as they often dismiss or even blame those who dare come forward.
The group also urged Tunisia to “stop criminalising sexual relations between unmarried consenting adults and same-sex sexual relations.”
The country’s penal code imposes jail terms of up to three years on homosexual acts between consenting adults.
