A/HRC/40/58/Add.1 There were no reports that religious groups, including newer communities, faced discrimination in access to public services, but some persons reported to be living in fear amidst threats and incitement on social media. 65. Gender Equality: Tunisia is ranked the highest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for its performance in closing the gender gap in various fields and has a longstanding reputation for the State’s progressive policies towards the equal rights of women. Women’s participation in politics is increasing, occupying 31% of seats in the current parliament. Tunisians generally attribute these advances to a secular Government and the moderate religious interpretations of religion prevailing amongst the Sunni majority in the country. Milestones in advancing women’s rights include a largely secularised Code of Personal Status 16 (CPS), adopted in 1956, which prohibited polygamy, made it legal for women to divorce their husbands, established a minimum age of marriage for girls, and banned forced marriages. It introduced the concept of alimony and increased the women’s right to child custody. In 1965, abortion was made legal in the first three months of a pregnancy while amendments to the CPS removed the requirement for wives to “obey” their husbands.17 66. On 17 April 2014, Tunisia withdraw the reservations that it had entered to CEDAW upon ratification in 1985. These reservations highlighted some of the gaps between Tunisia’s domestic laws and CEDAW in areas such as the rights to transmit nationality (Article 9.2); equal rights in marriage and dissolution (Article 16 c); equal rights towards children irrespective of marital status (16 d); the granting of family names to children (Article 16 (g)); the acquisition of property through inheritance; and the choice of their residence and domicile (15.4). 67. Article 46 of the Constitution requires the State to take all steps necessary to eradicate violence against women and to promote equality. On 26 July 2017, the parliament adopted Tunisia’s first national law to combat violence against women, which studies show is prevalent, with 50% of women having reported experiencing violence in their lifetime18. The law criminalised, for the first time, marital rape, and closed a gap in the penal code which provided impunity to a rapist by marrying the victim. In August 2017, the government also rescinded the 5 November 1973 circular which banned marriages between Muslim women and non-Muslim men. 68. On 13 August 2017, President Essebsi, commemorated Women’s Day in Tunisia with the establishment of the Commission on Individual Liberties and Equality (COLIBE). The Commission was given a mandate to formulate proposals for further strengthening civil liberties and addressing all aspects of discrimination and promoting gender equality. The Commission submitted its recommendations to the President in June 2018. Based on the report, on 23 November 2018, the Cabinet endorsed a draft law to be submitted to the parliament to guarantee gender equality in regard to inheritance. 69. Tunisia must be commended for these progressive steps which render it a leader in the MENA region in protecting the human rights of women and promoting gender equality. However, a number of challenges that undermine their enjoyment in practice of equal rights remain that are related to deficits in the rule of law, rooted in societal norms and religious practices, and exacerbated by the gaps in the economic and social status of women. 70. Thousands of cases filed with Tunisia’s Truth and Dignity Commission, established in 2013, for example, identify myriad practices reportedly carried out by government officials that were often abusive and violent against women that chose to wear the headscarf during the pre-revolutionary era, including harassment, beatings and sexual assault. A circular issued in 1997 that banned religious clothing in higher educational institutions faced sustained civic and legal challenges until it was finally deemed unconstitutional in 2013. 16 17 18 (S.) Ben Achour, «The Tunisian Code Of Personal Status, 50 years after: the scope of ambivalence, » The Year of the Maghreb, II | 2007, 55-70. (http://anneemaghreb.revues.org/89?lang=en) Law and Religion p.312 and Submission by Amnesty International to CESCR 2016 https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE3045752016ENGLISH.PDF http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2017/8/news-tunisia-law-on-ending-violence-againstwomen 13