Domestic violence shelter opens

Siham Badi,The Minister of Women's Affairs Tunis - Azhar al-Jarboui The Minister of Women's Affairs, Siham Badi, will open on Monday the first shelter for abused women in Tunisia. She will also launch a campaign under the slogan "16 days of activities to fight abuses against women" on international women's day, November 25. The shelter will provide psychological care for women, as well as a department that deals solely with guidance and counselling. A hotline will also be launched for abuse complaints. The 16 day campaign will shed light to women who have been abused and will look at best ways to tackle the issue. Various human rights groups were concerned about women's rights in Tunisia and an increase in abuse towards women after the revolutions of January 14, which saw Ennahda's rise to power. Badi said there is a growing number of "secret marriages" in Tunisian universities and that laws need to be implemented to stop this from happening. She said this phenomenon threatens family life in the society. Children who are born into a marriage conducted in secret are not legitimate in the eyes of the law, and thus are not protected by law. Statistics from the ministry revealed about 500 cases of marriages conducted in secret by Tunisian youths. Head of Tunis al-Khadra party Abdel Gadir al-Zaytouni said this phenomenon has increased after the revolution and called for the government to quickly take action against it. Badi's comments caused a lot of stir in the community, especially amongst organisations in support of single women's rights. Section 28 of the constitution draft was highly criticised by Badi and her campaign members. The section did not fully stipulate that both genders are to be treated equally. Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki said he opposes anything that threatens women's freedom. Marzouki said he supported women's rights and is prepared to fight for it. Jibhat al-Islah, a Tunisian Salafist party, said they would sue the Tunisian Minister of Education Abdel Latif Obaid for his decision to ban veiled students from attending schools. Badi said she would not allow teachers to wear Niqab, as pupils need facial expressions to respond to teachings.