Women in Tunisia Start Small Businesses

Tunisia is exemplary among countries in North Africa. Over the last 50 years, women have enjoyed the same rights as men and contributed at least as much to the development and prosperity of their country.

As a result of a half-century of legislation favorable to women, Tunisian women can freely choose their partners, decide when and how many children they want to have, go to school, apply for any job and obtain any position. Yet women do not enjoy equal access in the fast-changing job market, which demands knowledge of computer science, the Internet, languages other than Arabic and finance.

         Traditional education emphasizes Arabic, history and law. Furthermore, educated women are encouraged to focus on the humanities, because their role within Tunisian society is still seen to be first and foremost that of mother, caregiver and keeper of traditional customs. Men have greater opportunities for finding work because they are more mobile, have greater resources and are perceived by potential employers as the primary breadwinners who must work to support their families.For centuries, Tunisian women ensured that their families had enough water, planted and took car of their crops and drew from the local environment only what was needed.  

          Now there are programs in Tunisia that teach women to use these skills to start small businesses.  In addition these programs use innovative teaching methods that emphasize women's rights, leadership skills and methods that are environmentally sound that will not overuse critical natural resources.  As a result, women in Tunisia learn how to overcome poverty, confront unemployment, stand up for their political and civil rights and develop conservation programs, while gaining confidence to change society for the better.

Anastasia Denisova-Human Rights Activist Harassed By Government

Anastasia Denisova is a human rights activist and an expert in combating racism living in Krasnodar Russia.  She is also the head of Krasnodar Krai, a non-governmental organization that works with the ‘Youth Group for Tolerance’.  In addition Anastasia serves as a consultant to several international projects concerning human rights issues, a member of the Coordinating Council for the International Youth Human Rights Movement, an employee of the Human Rights Center Memorial and co-coordinator of the Green Alternative group in Krasnodar.

On January 10, 2010, Anastasia was summoned to the Krasnodar Police Department of Internal Affairs where she was informed that criminal proceedings had been initiated against her.  A person in an official position charged her with having unapproved computer software on her computer and creation of “computer malware” (software designed to infiltrate a computer system without the owner's consent).  These charges were based on the examination of computer equipment that did not belong to Anastasia or any of the organizations that she works for.

The day after she was charged,  Anastasia’s apartment was subjected to a three-hour search by three police officers from the Krasnodar Crimes Department, who were searching for pirated software. The police officers told her they had a warrant that was issued during the 2010 New Year holiday, but refused to show Anastasia a copy of this warrant. The laptop of Anastasia’s friend, an external hard drive and a USB stick were confiscated in the search.

The Russian government for some time has targeted Anastasia Denisova and the Youth Group for Tolerance.  The official police have continually harassed her because of her human rights work.  On October 12, 2009, officials from Krasnodar Economic Crime Department and the commercial firm “SPECTR” raided the premises where Anastasia  was working to search for counterfeit copies of software. However the address in this complaint did not coincide with the address of the premises. Three computer system units, none of which belonged to Anastasia,  were confiscated in this raid.

Also, in  October 2009, Anastasia  was prevented from traveling to the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw by a representative from the Russian Service of Aircraft Security, who refused to allow her to carry her laptop as hand luggage on board the plane.  Despite interventions by a representative from Austrian Airlines the security officer would not allow her to bring the laptop on board the plane citing “internal instructions”.  After this incident, the official newspaper “Kubanskie Novosti” (‘News of Kuban’) published several articles targeting Anastasia  stating  that she was “inciting ethnic hatred”.

In August 2009, Anastasia  along with a photojournalist were returning from a trip to Abkhazia when customs officers stopped them for 7 hours. Anastasia’s luggage was searched and the customs officials and Russian border officers questioned her about her human rights activities. The photojournalist accompanying her was also searched, and more than 20 gigabytes of information were copied from his laptop and confiscated.

It is believed that Anastasia Denisova is being targeted as a direct result of her work in the defense of human rights issues, in particular her work with the Youth Group for Tolerance.  There has been a pattern of ongoing harassment against her and there is concern for Anastasia’s physical and psychological well being. 

UPDATE:  It was reported that on  May 11, 2010 Anastasia’s lawyer received a letter from the Prosecutor’s Office informing them that the criminal case against Anastasia was closed on April 19 because of insufficient evidence. It also stated that an official apology on behalf of the Prosecutor had been sent to Anastasia. To date, she has not received this letter.  There is constant concern that this case will be reopened and that she will continue to be harassed because of her human rights work.