Women's rights in independent Tunisia

It's 70 years since Tunisian gained independence from France.

In August 1956, it brought in a new equality law that revolutionised women's lives.

Under the socialist President Habib Bourguiba, the North African country became the first in the Muslim world to legalise civil divorce and abortion and to ban polygamy.

Bourguiba also gave women the vote and widened access to education.

Nidale Abou Mrad spoke to Saida El Gueyed, a founding member of the Tunisian Women's Union, in 2019.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Image: Members of the Tunisian Women's Union. Credit: Courtesy of Saida El Gueyed)