TV series raises controversy over polygamy in Tunisia

A television series shown during the month of Ramadan has sparked controversy by addressing the issue of polygamy in Tunisia, as the law there prohibits a man from marrying more than one woman.

Nass, the main character in the series, asks, in the third episode, to marry a second wife, and confirms in front of his wife and children that he has the right to do so according to Sharia. He sparked controversy by addressing two practices prohibited by law in Tunisia: "customary marriage" and "polygamy."

The Free Constitutional Party in Tunisia said that "these issues have been resolved since 1956, and the prohibition of these practices is among the acquired rights of Tunisian women, and there is no way to retreat from them or put them up for discussion again."

The first president of Tunisia, Habib Bourguiba, approved the "Personal Status Code" on August 13, 1956, which is a set of legislation that prohibited polygamy and the declaration of unilateral divorce and established its obtaining by a judicial decision. Tunisian law recognizes only civil marriage.

The "Voice of Women" organization in Tunisia considered customary marriage a form of violence against women, and considered that this was a normalization with the culture of impunity, and called on the High Independent Authority for Audiovisual Communication, which is tasked with monitoring the content of television programs, to intervene.

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