ABSTRACT
The Code of Personal Status placed Tunisia in the forefront of all other Arab and Islamic countries with respect to the legal rights accorded to women and, in commemoration of its promulgation, the 13th of August was declared a national holiday, ‘Woman’s Day’. The Code of Personal Status was not created ex nihilo and the impetus towards the advancement of women in Tunisia had its roots deep in the modern history of the country, particularly in that effervescent period following the First World War. The lack of education also makes Tunisian women less attractive than foreign women and encourages Tunisian men to marry non–Tunisian women. Relationships between men and women are considered only within the framework of the family which is still viewed in hierarchical order with the husband/father as head of the family.
