Women in Tunisia

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Many agree that the initiator and supporter of women's freedom in Tunisia is Habib Bourguiba , Tunisia's first president , that's why he has been also titled 'The Liberator of Women' . He issued his Personal Status Code in 1956 in which there are stated the banning of polygamy and divorce by renunciation as well as setting a minimum marriage age of 17 for girls and giving them the right to refuse a proposed marriage . The code has further been updated recently in 2005 in which the marrying age has been unified to 18 . Bourguiba also banned the Hijab (women's head veil) from schools as part of a campaign to phase it out; however recently , a resurgence of conservative elements has led to the Hijab being more prevalent , notably among young women .

Other conditions for women have been improved since 1956 . The improvements included for example the increase in the rate of literacy as well as in health issues - infant mortality is only 26 per thousand births , compared with 139 in 1966 .