Hela Ben Salem on the Tunisian legal framework for eliminating violence against women

On the first day of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, an annual campaign that aims to promote and end violence against women and girls worldwide, we gave our mic to Tunisian lawyer and feminist activist Hela Ben Salem, who shared with us her experience from a workshop for Tunisian lawyers on the national legal framework for eliminating violence against women.
Hela points out the importance of that framework for lawyers from different regions in Tunisia to share expertise and experiences related to the application of the existing legal framework. She observes that five years after the adoption of the law on the elimination of violence against women, the legislation is applied inconsistently from one court to another, creating a gap between the law and the reality on the ground.
‘This discrepancy and the weak enforcement of the law are largely due to difficulties linked to raising awareness about the importance of this legislation,’ explains Hela.
She adds that the absence of a national strategy-or its inactivity-has exacerbated the phenomenon of femicides.
Hela concludes by pointing out that it is first and foremost the responsibility of the State to fully implement measures to support women victims of violence, especially since a joint protocol is in place for this support involving the Ministries of Interior, Justice, Women, Health and Social Affairs.
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