clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Tunisia to set up investigation units on violence against women

February 19, 2018 at 12:58 pm

Hundred of protestors march on the streets of Beirut, Lebanon to protest against domestic violence on February 24, 2013 [Joelle Hatem/Flickr]

An investigation unit will be set up in Tunisia to investigate crimes of violence against children and women, the interior ministry has announced.

The “Central Crime Squad for the investigation of crimes of violence against women and children” will be built on the law adopted last year which criminalises and eliminates violence against women.

The unit will be linked to the judicial police of the National Security Directorate as well as the judicial affairs services of the Directorate General of the National Guard, according to the interior ministry.

Professionals will be part of the units with specialities in abuses – ranging from sexual to economic -against women and children and police will be trained to deal with the matters adequately.

Read: Tunisia launches new awareness campaign on violence against women

This announcement comes following concerns raised by organisations that the law on the fight against violence against women had not been applied properly and that there had been shortcomings by the government and authorities to care for victims of violence.

The Comprehensive Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women adopted by the Assembly of People’s Representatives (APR) encompasses various abuses such as sexual as well as public order crimes affecting economic and social rights.

Nearly 80 per cent of cases of physical and mental violence against women are perpetrated by the husband and 11 per cent of cases of sexual violence are committed by members of the family, according to a study prepared by the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (ATFD) in November last year.

According to official statistics, 47 per cent of Tunisian women between the ages of 18 and 64 years have been subjected to violence at least once in their lives.