Several civil organizations, such as the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women, have also been pushing for its repeal. Decriminalization efforts Īssociation Shams has long advocated for the repeal of article 230. However as of 2019, reports by local human rights and LGBT associations confirm that anal tests are still being ordered by courts to determine whether a suspect is gay or not throughout 20. Additionally, he said that Tunisia was "committed to protecting the sexual minority from any form of stigmatization, discrimination and violence", adding that "civil society must first be prepared" for such change in a Muslim country. Ben Gharbia told Agence France-Presse that authorities could still perform anal tests on men suspected of being gay, but "these exams can no longer be imposed by force, physical or moral, or without the consent of the person concerned". In September 2017, Minister Mehdi Ben Gharbia agreed to stop forced anal tests as proof of homosexuality.
In June 2017, a 16-year-old teen was sentenced to four months in jail for homosexuality after refusing to be "anally probed". If the individual, accused of homosexuality, refused to be "anally probed", the authorities would view this refusal as evidence of guilt. The practice was criticized by human rights groups and doctors. The Tunisian Government has in the past used forced anal testing to determine if individuals had committed sodomy. Police arrested the two men on the suspicion of same-sex conduct on 3 June and attempted to subject the defendants to an anal exam, apparently to use as evidence in the case. On 6 July 2020, Human Rights Watch said that a Tunisian court sentenced two men for homosexuality. As of April 2019, at least 22 arrests had been made so far in 2019. Local LGBT association Association Shams has reported that since the Tunisian revolution in 2011, an increasing number of gay men have been being jailed: 127 in 2018, in contrast to 79 in 2017, and 56 in 2016.
On 11 March 2017, while on bail, they were given eight-month prison sentences. On 7 December 2016, two Tunisian men were arrested on suspicion of homosexual activity in Sousse, "anally probed" and forced to sign confessions of having committed "sodomy".
Ĭross-dressing is not expressly illegal, although transgender people, along with gay people, are often accused of violating Article 226 of the national Penal Code which outlaws "outrages against public decency". Legality of same-sex sexual activity Īrticle 230 of the Penal Code of 1913 (largely modified in 1964) decrees imprisonment of up to three years for private acts of sodomy between consenting adults. Critics have argued the anti-gay legislation was passed under French Tunisia, though France itself had no such laws at the time. In June 2012, the Government rejected the United Nations Human Rights Council's recommendation to decriminalize same-sex intercourse, arguing it was a Western concept at odds with Islam, Tunisian culture, and traditions. Amnesty International condemned this statement. Post-Arab Spring period Īfter the Tunisian Revolution and the 2011 Tunisian Constituent Assembly election, the then-Minister for Human Rights and Transitional Justice, Samir Dilou, remarked on national television that homosexuality was not a human rights issue, but a condition in need of medical treatment. ĭuring the rule of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from 1987 to 2011, the regime filtered gay and lesbian information and dating pages. In 2008, the Government of Tunisia was one of the co-sponsors of an opposing statement to the 2008 United Nations General Assembly resolution and declaration calling for the decriminalization of same-sex sexual intercourse worldwide. They served as intermediaries between masculine and feminine spaces during wedding celebrations, were invited in men's houses in the presence of their wives, and could enter in private spaces reserved for women in a similar status to the blind. 3 Recognition of same-sex relationshipsįrom the end of the 18th century to the start of the 19th century, gay men held social roles in Tunisia similar to those in other parts of the Muslim world despite ongoing stigmatisation.