Tunisia -

A Tunisian series shown during the month of Ramadan has sparked social and human rights controversy because of its discussion of the phenomenon of customary marriage and polygamy in Tunisia, which has been criminalized by Tunisian law since the issuance of the Personal Status Code in 1956.

The Ramadan drama "Innocence", which is broadcast by the private "Al-Hiwar Al-Tunisi" channel, attracted the attention of viewers since the first episodes because of its departure from the social norm, and its unequivocal touching on the issue of customary marriage and polygamy, or what is legally termed as marriage in contrast to legal formulas.

Some defended the series "Innocence" because it deals with the silent customary marriage phenomenon in Tunisia (communication sites)

legal and social debate

Controversy raged over the series between those who saw that the heroes of the work and its director by addressing this issue want to normalize with this phenomenon in Tunisian society and destroy the human rights gains of Tunisian women, and those who defended it on the pretext that customary marriage is a phenomenon that exists and is silent in Tunisia and that the task of art is to address and expose these issues.

Article 18 of the Code of Personal Status in Tunisia stipulates that polygamy is prohibited, and anyone who marries while still married and before dissolution of the previous marriage is punished with imprisonment for one year and a financial fine.

Chapter 31 regulating the Civil Status Law requires that the marriage contract be concluded before a notary public witness or before the civil status officer in the presence of two trustworthy witnesses.

The Ramadan series aroused the ire of feminist human rights associations, as some of them rushed to issue statements condemning and denouncing what was contained in the content of the series and its touching on the issue of customary marriage, considering that it distorts the image of Tunisian women and makes them submissive, weak and robbed of their will.

Other associations also went to demand his cessation on the grounds that it legislates files that Tunisia settled decades ago, whether through polygamy or customary marriage, and closed the arc of religious and legal debate about it.

Normalization with customary marriage

In this regard, the President of the National Union of Women, Radhia Jerbi, expressed - in her speech to Al Jazeera Net - her condemnation of the abusive image of Tunisian women in the series, and taking steps back in cases and phenomena in which the law was settled and won for women decades ago.

Al-Jerbi acknowledged that there are cases of customary marriage in Tunisia, but stressed that it does not rise to the level of the phenomenon that requires highlighting and normalization with it, as did the owners of Ramadan dramas.

She continued, "It is remarkable that the series did not address the issue of customary marriage from the angle of the desire to treat the phenomenon, but rather the tendency to justify it and urge normalization with it as a de facto situation within society."

The President of the Women's Union denounced the inferior image in which the woman appeared through the heroines of the series between the raped, the abused, the mentally ill, and the one who forcibly accepted her husband's marriage to her, considering that this image is far from the true character of Tunisian women.

Complaint to the President of the Republic

Al-Jerbi says that she spoke with the President of the Republic, Kais Saied, about the issue of customary marriage, which the series touched upon, in reference to the fragile human rights situation that women live in in Tunisia despite the existence of a legal arsenal that is supposed to protect them and take care of their rights.

During her meeting with the president, Al-Jerbi warned of the existence of what she described as nostalgia among some to go back and undo women's gains, stressing that the president stressed the impossibility of retracting women's rights and that Tunisian women would not accept that.

The President of the Women's Union briefed the President of the Republic on the issue of customary marriage raised by the series (Tunisian Press)

Ministry of Women on line

The Tunisian Ministry of Women and Family, in turn, quickly published a statement, in which it affirmed its rejection of all aspects of normalization with all forms of violence against women, calling on the people of art, culture and the media to help establish a comprehensive societal commitment to combating violence against women.

The ministry clarified that marriage contrary to legal formulas or what is known as customary marriage constitutes a crime condemned by law, and is one of the aspects of abuse of Tunisian women's gains, a form of flagrant violation of the civil state of the state, and a facet of human trafficking and a threat to women's rights.

She pointed out that dramatic productions are an essential tool for exercising the freedom of thought and creativity guaranteed by the law and the constitution, and that one of the basic functions of every artistic work is to break the wall of silence that may surround the unspoken in societal contexts and to engage with boldness and courage when raising and critically addressing burning issues.

Dramatic treatment of unspoken phenomena

For her part, actress Najla bin Abdullah - one of the heroines of the controversial series - denied in her speech to Al Jazeera Net, that the goal of the drama was to normalize the phenomenon of customary marriage and polygamy, or to offend the image of Tunisian women and retract their gains.

She explained that the goal is to shed light on hidden phenomena within Tunisian society, adding, "I am one of the fiercest defenders of women's rights, and I bear my full responsibility in the role I embodied, because I see that the task of art is not to falsify facts, but rather to reveal and address them."

Najla bin Abdullah called on Tunisians to reconcile with their issues and their reality and not to resort to denial, stressing that the phenomena of marital violence and customary marriages exist in Tunisia, despite the existence of a legal arsenal that criminalizes this and is supposed to protect women.