2011-11-18
Ennahda female candidate slams single mothers
By Houda Trabelsi for Magharebia in Tunis – 18/11/11
Comments by Ennahda candidate Souad Abderrahim stirred a public outcry when she said that single mothers were "a disgrace to Tunisian society".
In an interview aired November 9th on Monte Carlo Doualiya radio station, the head of Ennahda's list in Tunis said that single mothers should not benefit from state protection and "do not have the right to exist".
She debated the issue with Nadia Chaabane, head of the Modernist Democratic Pole (PDM), and Bochra Bel Haj Hmida, of Ettakatol. Abderrahim said that only raped women should be protected by the state.
"I am ashamed of Arab and Muslim countries that try to make excuses for people who have sinned," she added, arguing that in a Muslim society a family "must not be formed outside the bonds of marriage".
The statements riled bloggers and activists, many of whom suggested that such comments cast doubts over Ennahda's true agenda. Though the Islamist party has professed commitment to democracy and women's rights, many critics remain skeptical.
"We believe this is an indication that Ennahda has plans to attack minorities in Tunisia," commented blogger and Nobel Prize nominee Lina Ben Mhenni. "More importantly, how can she refuse to provide protection for women while she is a woman herself and is supposed to be closer to them and feel their problems?"
"She rejects the principle of legal protection for single mothers, and goes beyond this to even incriminate them, and she will, of course, cite a Qur'anic text," Ben Mhenni added.
She added, "Why should there be such embarrassment when this phenomenon is real and existing in Tunisian society? There is no embarrassment in religion, right? How can a representative in the Constituent Assembly oppress a category that does exist in society with such an offensive statement…?"
According to Mohammed Shokri Miadi, the state should enact laws to "prevent women from falling victims to financial, social and sexual needs" and protect them "from selling their own bodies".
"I don't encourage births outside the bonds of marriage," said Rania Klai. "However, most of the cases of single mothers are the result of rape and sexual harassment, and the victims keep silent about them for fear of scandal. If we deny her a law that would protect her and her baby, she may be forced to kill her baby and then commit suicide."
"Even if we put this analysis aside and acknowledge that the birth will take place, what is the guilt of the baby to deny it the simplest rights of care and protection?" she wondered. "I hope that we won't see babies thrown away in plastic bags in the rubbish or public roads."
Mouna Habib had a different opinion. She commented that it is "shameful" for modernists to "defend the woman who voluntarily wants to give birth to a baby outside the bonds of marriage".
"Not only this, they even want to protect her with a law, a monthly salary and housing although there are a lot of Tunisians in remote areas who die of poverty," she said.
"All those who support the decision of those who went astray are indirectly encouraging people to make mistakes and go astray," Souad Makayda told Magharebia. "We want reform, and we want a society where moral decency prevails."
Many observers say that the nomination of Abderrahim, an unveiled and educated woman, at the head of Ennahda's list in Tunis was meant to reassure critics that the Islamist party would not roll back women's rights.
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![[Houda Trabelsi] Though Souad Abderrahim is an unveiled and professional woman, her nomination has been of little comfort to Ennahda’s critics.](/awi/images/2011/11/18/111118Feature2Photo1-271_179.jpg)
POST YOUR COMMENT 10
محمد أمين شطورو 2011-12-15
Minorities are Jews, then Jews of Dounma who take the cover of Islam such as Tarek Ben Ammar and others.
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Wisy de casablanca 2011-11-25
I agree on the basics. Islam has its family model. But, single mothers are the symptom, and the causes are what need to be addressed. We need to inform, educate, provide support and so on before rejecting people. Beware of dear Ennahda’s ways.
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علي جان رجب 2011-11-25
A nice greeting to all free people. If recognizing prostitution and adultery one of the gains of the Tunisian woman which should be developed and protected, I can only say from God we are and to God we shall return! The regime of Ben Ali was encouraging prostitution in Tunisia so that he would feed on them because he was a slaver, he hated Muslims and Arabs. As he was one of Dounma Jews, he attacked the Muslim family in killing its honour as he wanted some women in the mentality of neighbourhood of prostitutes where they are sold and bought.
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mea culpa 2011-11-24
May each mortal note their own blame! Who here can claim to be infallible? Who here can pretend that all humans are born and are living in the same conditions? Who here can claim that we are socially equal and have the same opportunities in life, education, healthcare, wealth, etc. How can we require a faultless path when individuals clearly do not at all have the same means? Who do we take ourselves for to judge others when they stumble where we ourselves would purely and simply fall apart? Who wants to put themselves in the service of the general interests? That is the essential mission of a party activists and the minimal kindness, compassion and humility required. Those who moralise from above with posturing stigmatise, humiliate, divide and cause the regression of social relations. What interests us is build more humane relations in order to ban certain predatory behaviours that cause victims. In any case, we need support, not supplementary condemnations. A governmental party should develop its ideas so as to respect the rights of everyone and the rights of the weak as a priority in order to fix the difficult social situations. In no case should it stigmatise or exclude people. This is the price for society’s advancement; otherwise, social peace will be severely challenged. No party is qualified to play the master of conscience. On the other hand, the citizens expect that all of the parties to build a balanced society where everyone has his place – even the unfortunate people who have made faux pas. Human beings are fallible. That is how it is!
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BEBE 2011-11-23
Saoud Alrahim belongs to the ideology that intends to arbitrarily impose itself on the Muslim peoples, whose natural right of conscience it denies. On the one hand, they are allied to the imperialist Westerners, enemies of the Muslims peoples and the Third World in general. On the other hand, these accomplices criticise women with the insidious complacency of the Westerners, who avoid most often avoid stigmatising them because their interests force them to! What is this about here? In the end, it would be the right thing to place first and foremost the sacred rights of the innocent persons that are children. By penalising single mothers, the defenceless babies are the ones who are put in danger in all meanings of the word. So, let us be coherent, let God and God alone make the definitive judgements and let us save these little angles, and not add more misfortune to what they already have. Society will be better off because of this. But, the responsibility of the father should, in any case, be established and a law on public order should authorise the prosecutor to launch and investigation with a DNA analysis so that the child has the name of his rogue father and we do away forever with the “born to X” or whatever equivalent. Nature gives life when an ovum is fertilised, so every baby has a father. Who has a right to deprive the baby of this. The day where our societies will have the courage to protect innocents before protecting the cowardice of a father and the weakness of a mother is the day where no more babies will be sacrificed. The Western model is not the good one! In a debate on this sensitive issue, it would be right to represent the interests of the children, who are the foremost victims about whom we do not speak enough about.
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Anonymous 2011-11-22
I do not think that the Pope, who continues to be respected by hundreds of millions of faithful around the world, will condemn Souad Abderrahim. She has a conservative idea and has expressed it. Others have ideas in the opposite sense and are expressing them as well without their ideas being criminalised. Some groups in Tunisia, which pretend to be leftist, have Stalinist behaviour. They pretend to be the country’s morality and have no idea of what Tunisia is deep down, and it is not Paris’s Folies Bergère. Tunisia is evolving and needs to encourage dialogue and exchanges without throwing anathemas. We need to let the people express themselves and respond with logical arguments instead of demonising others.
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humanity 2011-11-21
Instead of playing God and judging your fellow humans, it would be wiser to get down to the basics: protecting children. A woman who is taking care of children and who is facing difficulties should be helped without accusations of any sort because the life of a child is more important than anything else. This child has a right to live like any other, more fortunate child, who was born into a home with the ideal conditions that everyone hopes for. This means taking care of the basic needs of this (or these) child for housing, healthcare, food, clothing, education and so on so that this mother can play her vital role in the future and composure of her child or her children, who will grow up and will be men and women able to take care of themselves and be useful to society. In the opposite case, if no aid is given to mothers in distress, a string of tragedies risks coming of it, exacerbating the burden for society. In any case, we need to help poor mothers in distress in the interest of these innocent children, in the interest of society.
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Saoud al rahim 2011-11-21
Those who favour single mothers either donot believe in God's instructions on the subject or unfortunately suffer from a sickening belief in artificial, immoral and criminal theories of women rights, mostly carved by the westerners who have no understanding of how to differentiate between legitimate and illegitmate relationships. The solution is much simpler these days. State must enact strict laws including guarantees for protection of women's honour and safety. Those who become single mothers should declare the father and he can be identified/confirmed through DNA tests. The father should then be obliged to marry the lady. In case of professional sex workers or those who have this disease as a hobby should be dealt according to God's orders.
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سالم 2011-11-21
First of all, those who defend this category want to corrupt the Tunisian society which is supposed to be a Muslim society in the first place. Secondly, what gains do you allege the Tunisian woman has acquired? Her identity and nationality aren’t even known as she follows up the latest exaggerations of the West and calls upon society to guarantee her rights out of her ignorance or disregard. So go back to your reason, o Tunisians!
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muslim 2011-11-19
Ennahda is rolling out its agenda – the real one – starting now. Do not pretend to be surprised! Do not play the frightened virgin. We wanted this under the sounding of the trumpets of our friends and guides for forever, the virtues of moderate Islam, so moderate our reactions should be. The true experts said that we have the representatives that we deserve. We deserve Ennahda! So be it!
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