Monia Ben Jemia


Monia Ben Jemia is a Tunisian law professor, academic, feminist and president of the :fr:Association tunisienne des femmes démocrates|Tunisian Association of Democratic Women. Jemia is a professor of law at the University of Carthage.

Biography

Jemia reports that because she was born into a conservative family, she was immensely inspired by the feminist works of Simone Du Beauvoir as a teenager. Jemia's mother was illiterate and her family stuck to strict gender roles. She was one of the first in her family to complete advanced studies. As soon as the ATFD was created, she joined and eventually became the president of the organization. ATFD focuses on trying to curb issues of violence against women. Their secondary, though also important focus is to increase the codified rights of women who are married. One of Jemia's central ideas is that the democracy in Tunisia will not move forward unless women receive more fundamental rights.