Tunisia scraps ban on Muslim women marrying non-Muslims

Human rights groups had campaigned to abolish the 1973 law, saying it undermined the fundamental human right to choose a spouse

By AFP 16 September 2017, 7:43 am

Edit

Illustrative: Tunisian women celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Arab Spring in Tunis, Tunisia, on January 14, 2016. (AP/Riadh Dridi)

TUNIS, Tunisia — Tunisia has abolished a decades-old ban on Muslim women marrying non-Muslims, the presidency said Thursday.

“Congratulations to the women of Tunisia for the enshrinement of the right to the freedom to choose one’s spouse,” presidency spokeswoman Saida Garrach wrote on Facebook.

The announcement comes a month after President Beji Caid Essebsi called for the government to scrap the ban dating back to 1973.

Until now a non-Muslim man who wished to marry a Tunisian woman had to convert to Islam and submit a certificate of his conversion as proof.

Human rights groups in the North African country had campaigned for the ban’s abolition, saying it undermined the fundamental human right to choose a spouse.