ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the status of women in Tunisia, covering their legal status, their participation in education, work and politics, and an overview of women's institutions. It argues that since Independence enormously significant strides have been taken towards trying to guarantee genuine equality for women in Tunisia. In 2001, 97 per cent of girls aged six years old were enrolled in school. Another way to gauge the significance of education is to see how it feeds through into subsequent employment. The Ministry for Women is concerned with promoting the rights of women in politics; proposing, funding and overseeing projects on the integration of women in the economy and guaranteeing the rights of women in the personal sphere of the family. One possible reason why it might be difficult to quantify female participation in rural areas is that their work there may often be hidden, or ignored in traditional classification systems.
