Tunisia’s Civic Space Under Siege - Can Youth, Women and Institutions Withstand Authoritarian Drift?

By Ismael Siskawi

Demonstrators gather at Avenue Habib Bourguiba to protest against Tunisian President Kais Saied’s "extraordinary decisions” amid a heavy security presence in Tunis, Tunisia on October 10, 2021. ©Nacer Talel/AA

As politically motivated arrests rise and judicial independence crumbles, Tunisia’s youth and women face mounting hurdles, even as soaring unemployment and shrinking rights threaten civic resilience. Tunisia’s civic space is retreating. Since President Kais Saied’s 2021 power consolidation, the institutions that once fostered citizen engagement, courts, civil society, opposition parties, are under pressure.

Politically motivated arrests have soared, including over 50 individuals detained, 22 arbitrarily, 14 facing possible death sentences according to a Human Rights Watch report published in April 2025.

Critics say the judiciary now serves executive interests rather than justice. Human Rights Watch reported that in November 2024, more than 80 activists, journalists, lawyers and social media users had been detained on political grounds. This wave of repression continues, in mid-2025, Reuters detailed the arrest of activist Cherifa Riahi, taken into custody in May 2024 for aiding migrants, and still imprisoned without trial. Tunisia’s civic sector is gasping. I Watch, an anti-corruption NGO once vibrant, is now hobbled by asset freezes, raids and legal harassment.

The Tunisian General Labour Union, once a powerful voice, has been weakened by prosecutions. Protesters in July 2025 marched under the slogan “The Republic is a large prison,” decrying a country turned into an “open-air prison”. The CIVICUS Monitor, which assesses civic freedoms worldwide, downgraded Tunisia to “repressed” in early 2023. The downgrade reflects the increasing use of military courts to prosecute critics, raids on independent media, and tightened NGO registration and funding rules.

Even though Tunisia once led the region in youth engagement and innovation, today’s young people face dire labour market realities. Youth unemployment rates remain stubbornly above 40 percent by 2024, according to the Institute for Security Studies. This economic exclusion drives emigration, cynicism, and political disengagement. Despite high educational attainment, formal job opportunities remain scarce.

In 2023 the informal sector accounted for 36.5 percent of all employment—well below regional averages, yet still a sign of limited formal absorption. Frustration among the educated youth population raises the risk of brain drain and growth of an unmoored, disengaged generation.

While Tunisia retains a leading legal framework on women’s rights in the region. Since the sweeping 2017 law banning “marry-your-rapist” statutes, Tunisia has made symbolic legal progress. Its constitution affirms gender equality (“equal rights and duties”), according to Human Rights Watch. Yet implementation is lagging. The same constitution stripped gender-parity quotas in electoral law, and female representation in the 161-seat assembly dropped to just 25 seats.

Unemployment disparities persist, female unemployment in 2022 was estimated at 23.6 percent versus 13 percent for males, according to Statista. Women also earn around 25 percent less than men for similar work.

Crucially, the 2017 law on violence against women is under-resourced. Shortcomings in police and judicial responsiveness, and a lack of shelters, undermine its protective capacity. Meanwhile, cultural barriers and workload norms continue to limit women’s economic mobility.

Tunisia’s 2022 constitution repositioned the state’s identity: Article 5 declares Tunisia part of the Islamic community, redirecting the state to uphold Islam’s purposes. Though subtle, the language expands executive discretion over religious and moral boundaries.

This shift coincided with the revocation of judicial independence, the Supreme Judicial Council was dissolved in early 2022, and dozens of judges were dismissed. Freedoms of expression and the press face increasing risk as courts and laws like the broad 2022 cyber-crime decree suppress dissent.

Tunisia stands at a crossroads: it can either deepen the rollback of democracy or pursue strategic rebuilding. Reform must be comprehensive, restoring judicial independence by reconstituting the Supreme Judicial Council, removing political interference, and guaranteeing fair trials; reviving civic institutions by unfreezing NGOs, dropping politically motivated charges, and protecting media, activist, and union space; addressing youth unemployment through first-job programs, vocational training, and private sector incentives; enforcing women’s legal protections by fully funding support services, ensuring equality in practice, and restoring gender-parity mechanisms; and safeguarding secular governance by clarifying the constitution’s religious provisions to prevent executive overreach under the guise of moral policing.

Tunisia’s civic fabric is fraying under pressure. Institutional erosion, youth economic marginalization, and under-resourced progress on women’s rights are entrenching an authoritarian equilibrium. Yet the civic spirit, protesters, activists, and women’s rights defenders endures. Whether it receives institutional, economic, and social support will determine if Tunisia can reclaim the inclusive, dynamic democracy it once promised, or resign itself to becoming a cautionary tale of democratic decline.

Ismael Siskawi is a Tunisian journalist and human rights activist dedicated to building a better future for Tunisia.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely the author’s and do not represent the views of Nisaba Media.