Tunis: Most Tunisians oppose abortion for no reason or for economic reasons, according to the latest survey by the pan-African research network Afrobarometer, carried out by the Tunisian institute “One to One for Research and Polling”.
Presented on Tuesday, the results of the “Gender Equality and Sexual and Reproductive Health” survey show that 88% of a sample of 1,200 Tunisian adults interviewed between February 25 and March 11, believe that abortion is justified when the pregnancy poses a risk to the woman’s health or is the result of rape or incest (66%), but never for economic reasons (50%) or any other reason (71%).
Youssef Meddeb, CEO and co-founder of One to One for Research and Polling, said the survey also revealed that 33% of respondents believe that women and girls in their community “sometimes” (20%) or “often” (13%) terminate their pregnancies.
83% of respondents agree that girls should be able to continue their studies if they become pregnant or parents, that they should be able to make their
own decisions about marriage (81%) and childbearing (59%), and that young people should be provided with sexuality education to help them make informed decisions (55%), he added.
The survey also found that 16% of respondents say that female students ‘often’ or ‘always’ face discrimination, harassment or sexual advances from their teachers.
41% say that women are ‘often’ or ‘always’ sexually harassed in public spaces, and 66% believe that ‘much more’ needs to be done to protect women and girls from sexual harassment.
Participants in this conference said that lack of information, limited access to health services, social norms, insecurity and lack of financial resources are all factors that undermine the situation of women in Tunisia, despite current legal and institutional achievements.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse