WORLD DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2012 GENDER EQUALITY AND DEVELOPMENT BACKGROUND PAPER THE MAKING OF GENDER EQUALITY IN TUNISIA AND IMPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT Baliamoune, Mina 2011 This paper was prepared with the support of the Nordic Trust Fund for Human Rights (NTF) of the World Bank The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the World Development Report 2012 team, the World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. The making of Gender Equality in Tunisia and Implications for Development1 Mina Baliamoune-Lutz2 1. Introduction In 1965, Tunisia‘s real GDP per capita was 645 Tunisian dinars (TD). Twenty years later, it rose to TD 1,285 (about double its level in 1965). In 2005, Tunisia increased its per capita real GDP to TD 2,480. While this may seem to be a substantial increase in income over four decades, it pales compared to Tunisia‘s achievements in other aspects of human development, particularly in education, health and gender equality. Indeed, Tunisia‘s achievements in these areas are remarkable. Baliamoune-Lutz undertook an analysis of Tunisia‘s path to development and concluded that ―Tunisia‘s development strategy has relied primarily on diversifying its production, expanding the trade sector (both in terms of the size of its share and in terms of trade diversification), and human development—with a special emphasis on gender equality‖ (Baliamoune-Lutz, 2009a, p. 15). The empowerment of women, in particular, seems to have contributed significantly to raising the level of human development in the country. The primary goal of this case study is to identify the main mechanisms that link gender equality to development in Tunisia, focusing in particular on how economic, social and political factors have interacted with legislative and policy reforms in changing gender relations and outcomes in the country. To do this, I first (Section 2) discuss the emergence of the debate on the Tunisian women‘s rights in the 1930s and the major factors and conditions leading to the creation of the Code of Personal Status (CPS) of the 1950s, and how interactions of socio- cultural and political factors with legislative and policy reforms impacted gender relations and outcomes. In Section 3, I review the major social and economic outcomes since the 1960s (or 1970s in some cases). Specifically, I track the main economic and social changes during this period by examining such aspects as the pace and pattern of economic growth, with particular attention paid to periods of high and sustained growth and/or stagnation, major shifts in economic policy (such as economic liberalization programs of the late 1980s and early 1990s) and resulting changes in economic structure (such as the intensification of manufacturing exports), as well as changes in educational attainments. In addition, using relevant data, I discuss the interactions between economic changes and gender outcomes in Tunisia. In Section 4, I outline seven key lessons from the Tunisian experience. 2. Gender issues: Legislative and policy reforms 1 This paper was prepared for the World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development. Financial support from the World Bank was received for this purpose. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank. 2 Professor and Kip Research Fellow of Economics, University of North Florida [email protected] 2.1 The ‘Code of Personal Status’ of the 1950s Baliamoune-Lutz (2009a) argues that Tunisia‘s focus on enhancing education and reducing gender inequities provided the country with good initial conditions for its development strategies in the 1980s and 1990s. The author states: Tunisia tackled two issues better than most Arab and Moslem countries, and began to do so shortly after its independence from France. First, to reduce gender inequality it instituted laws that were less unfavorable to women, including laws pertaining to marriage and divorce, and the right to vote and stand for election. The first woman was elected to parliament in 1959 (in Morocco, for example, this did not happen until 1993!). Second, to improve human development Tunisia placed more emphasis on education. Four decades later, Tunisia outperformed all North African countries (see Baliamoune-Lutz 2006) and many of the remaining MENA and African countries in women‘s health, fertility rates (which are now comparable to fertility rates in some developed countries), and literacy rates, especially female literacy. Perhaps it is this early start in focusing on human development (health and education) and on the important role of women in society that provided Tunisia with good initial conditions for its successful development strategy. (Baliamoune-Lutz, 2009a, p.8) This section focuses on reviewing the initiatives to reduce gender inequalities using legal institutions. Shortly after independence from France the (then) Prime Minister Habib Bourguiba (who ruled the country as president from 1957 to 1987 and was quite supportive of women‘s rights) signed the Decree of 13 August 1956 which defines the laws governing personal status, known collectively as Code du Statut Personnel (the Code of Personal Status)3 As noted by Mounira Charrad (1997, pp. 294-95), ―[t]he CPS reformed Marriage, divorce, custody, and to some extent inheritance. On all these dimensions, it expanded women‘s rights by eradicating some of the most patriarchal arrangement of the Shari‘a. It abolished polygamy, eliminated the husband‘s right to repudiate his wife, allowed women to file for divorce, and increased women‘s custody rights.‖ Also, an interesting shift on the ‗veil‘ took place in the mid 1950s. In 1929 Bourguiba had maintained that the veil constituted the Tunisian identity and a symbol of its traditions. However, after Bourguiba became president, he characterized the veil as ‗an odious rag‘ and ‗a dreadful burden‘ (Charrad, 1997). The 1956 CPS marked a radical shift in the interpretation of Islamic laws governing family matters. It made polygamy illegal and raised the minimum age at which girls can get married to 17 years of age (earlier the minimum age commonly used was the age of puberty) and 20 years for men. The policies of women‘s rights at that time focused on family planning, marriage regulations and laws that were less unfavorable to women, and generalized access to education for women (and men). These policies were predominantly top down. They did not emanate from women (or women groups) themselves since there was no significant influence of women through a feminist movement in the political (or policymaking) arena. Yet, these policies have contributed significantly to reducing gender inequities in Tunisia and set the stage for an unprecedented female emancipation and empowerment in Arab and Moslem countries. In particular, women‘s generalized access to education which began in the 1960s helped produced 3 For details on the Code du Statut Personnel see Journal Officiel Tunisien, no 104 du 28 Décembre 1956 (in French) 2 the educated labor force (especially for the export sectors) in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the large pool of professional women that was essential to the birth of feminism and women‘s movement in the 1990s. 2.2 Understanding how socio-cultural and political factors have interacted with legislative and policy reforms in changing gender relations and outcomes Charrad (1997) provides a most insightful analysis of the role of the state, religion, and gender in the 1930s-1990s in explaining policy shifts in Tunisia. This section draws on her analysis to discuss how social and political factors have interacted with legislative and policy reforms in changing gender relations and outcomes. Charrad‘s analysis emphasizes the role of politics and is based on a theoretical premise which centers on ―the autonomy of state actors from—versus their alliance with—social groups that have the highest stakes in protecting Islamic family law and in sustaining traditional restrictions on women‖ (p.287). Charrad explains further: The most important groups that have had the highest stakes in protecting Islamic family law in Tunisian history are the Islamic establishment (religious scholars and judges), kinship groups organized as patriarchal communities, and Islamic fundamentalist movements. Gender policy has varied in Tunisia on the basis of the changing relationship between the state and one or several of the above groups [emphasis added]. (Charrad, 1997, p. 288) Charrad identifies four political configurations, namely (i) nationalism during the 1930s; (ii) the formation of the national state in the mid-1950s; (iii) the consolidation of the state in the 1970s; and (iv) the 1990s challenges to the state created by feminism and Islamic fundamentalism. The gender policies shifted according to the state‘s interests and its interactions with major social and politically-motivated groups. In the 1930s, while still colonized by France, Tunisia experienced the strengthening of nationalist movements. Nationalist leaders considered the Tunisian woman as symbol of the Tunisian culture; a ‗sacred repository of national values‘ and hence wanted to maintain Islamic family law. While the French colonial officers changed property laws and contract laws in Tunisia, they did not interfere with Islamic family law since it did not interfere with their economic and political objectives (as it did in Algeria for example where the more extensive settlements by the French led to French intervention in family law). Thus, Tunisian women continued to be subject to Islamic family law while helping the Nationalist movement fight for liberation. Polygamy was permitted (up to four wives), a husband could unilaterally (without recourse to courts) terminate the marriage by repudiating his wife, and child custody and guardianship were generally given to the father. Girls could marry at the age of puberty (in some cases as young as 12).