By: Carla C. Avenia, SSH Correspondent

It might come as no surprise that street harassment is still very much prevalent in a country which is part of the Arab world. But actually, in the case of Tunisia, it is quite surprising. Tunisia is well known for being one of the most modern and forward countries in this area, a place where activism concerning equality has a strong presence, where particularly the youth – both men and women –  are engaged in fighting extremist right-wing (read Islamist) policies that try to cover up women against their will and institute laws depriving them of basic rights.

I spent ten days in Tunisia in order to attend the World Social Forum. This post gathers my experiences as well as those that where told to me directly by two different women.

Personally, I found it impossible to go out on the streets on my own without anticipating some sort of harassment, ranging from unwanted verbal communication to cat-calls, all the way to what can be called stalking. On my way to the hotel, a man followed me and even walked into the lobby. I was scared to check in until he left, because I didn’t want him to find out my name or room number. I tried to leave my hotel one evening at 7 pm in order to buy some food just a block away, and I ran back (luckily, food in hand) after I was cat-called once and two different cars full of men slowed down, yelling at me in Arabic and following me back to my hotel. Please keep in mind that, although it shouldn’t matter, I am quite culturally sensitive and my attire had nothing to do with attracting unwanted attention. I wasn’t wearing anything different than other local women wear, which is verified by the fact that given my complexion, many people that I interacted with on a daily basis (shop owners, taxi drivers) always spoke Arabic to me because “I look local.”

I met young locals and they told me that women, for their own safety, should not walk the streets alone after dark. Even in the center of the city, which was full of foreigners at the time because of the World Social Forum. From the moment I voiced these incidents, local friends made it a point to accompany back to the hotel every evening, or even pick me up in order to go eat or have a drink.

The worst incident took place one evening at a bar called Cafe Paris, right on Bourguiba Avenue, in the center of town. First, I should state that there are still some old-fashioned laws present in the country, one which allows only foreigners to drink alcohol while sitting outside on a terrace. Tunisians are not allowed to do the same. Even if they try to order something, they are simply not served. Which means that usually the terraces are full of foreigners, while the locals all sit inside. This place in particular was full of men, because local women prefer to go to higher-end bars which seem “safer”. I soon learned why.

That evening it rained, so my group of mixed foreign friends chose to go inside. The women in my group where the only women in the whole bar. We attracted a lot of stares, but by then, we were used to that. We endured uncomfortable, deep-seated stares almost everywhere we went. Particularly on the streets and at bars.

Having had a few beers, the call of nature manifested. So together with a colleague, we decided to make a line for the bathroom, which was located in the basement. We started feeling tense as soon as we got on that staircase heading to the basement. Local men swarmed around us, staring, checking us out, whispering things amongst each other. We made it halfway down before we chose to turn around and get out. But the swarm of men closed around us, and grab my colleague by the arm, telling her something in Arabic. The men laughed and got in even closer. She froze with fear for a moment and shook this man’s hand off, pushing her way through the laughing crowd of men, and luckily weaving an escape route for me too. We hurried back to our table in fear.

Then I remembered the stories from Tahir square. This is how it must start for the women who have suffered atrocities in Cairo: the swarm of laughing men closing around them, the unwanted touching, the sudden panic attack followed by an attempt to flee the situation. We were lucky enough to have made it out just with our feathers ruffled.

The male domination of the public sphere is commonplace. Most local and foreign women justifiably prefer to avoid certain places such as bars, or walking the streets at night, so as to not be subject to constant sexual harassment.

A French colleague told me how she was stalked for blocks while heading back to the hotel in broad daylight. A young man followed her closely, talking to her the whole way. She ignored him, but that didn’t stop him of following her for at least five blocks. The local passersby didn’t do a thing about it.

The worst story came from an Egyptian colleague, who came to a get-together at a house that I was at, sometime around 9 pm. She arrived in tears, so I walked her out the balcony so she could tell me her story. She said how in Cairo she’s constantly walking around with pepper spray, and wards off harassers on a daily basis. Older local women have told her to ignore them, but after the fifth or sixth incident she experiences on a daily basis, she just cannot keep her mouth shut and must verbally fight back.

She never expected to experience the same in Tunisia. As I, she knew that Tunisia was reputed for being quite modern, so she came unprepared to face what happened to her that evening. And unarmed, since she couldn’t pack her pepper spray.

She was walking on the street parallel to Bourguiba Avenue (the main street), looking for the apartment building in which this get-together was being held. Seeing the policemen guarding the French Embassy (which is surrounded by barbed wire), she weighed her options: although she didn’t trust policemen given the atrocities they were involved in back in Egypt, this was Tunisia, a liberal, free, forward-thinking country in which policemen could be trusted. Right?

Wrong. She asked the policemen for the apartment building’s number. They signaled the right way, which was through a narrow pathway squeezed between buildings on one side and barbed wire on the other. Yet, they started to initiate a conversation. She ignored them and followed on. They didn’t give up.

The group of policemen followed her and kept on harassing her. Making fun of her, enjoying her fear. As soon as they made it to the right doorway, the surrounded her, and closed in around her, trying to touch her. She started to cry and quickly forced her way through the main door, leaving the men roaring with laughter behind her.

The political situation might have changed in Tunisia, and it is – technically – slowly evolving towards a modern democracy. But there is no democracy without equality. And there is no equality when women are scared into avoiding public spaces, which are still dominated by an old-fashioned patriarchy who find satisfaction in the objectification and intimidation of women.

Carla is a proud feminist originally from Texas, who strongly believes in creating safer spaces for women. She holds a Master’s in Local Development, and she runs her own translation company from France. She is also a travel blogger. You can find her on Twitter.