<div>Tunisia: Can niqabs and bikinis live side-by-side?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21925753
Two years after the long-time government was ousted in Tunisia, some women are enjoying their freedom to wear Islamic clothes such as the niqab, while others are afraid of losing their rights, reports Caroline Anning.
Arije Nasser greets me in her living room in the dusty, wind-blown Tunisian town of Gafsa with the traditional two kisses on the cheek - but through a swathe of black material.
The 22 year-old English student chose to put on the niqab - the full Muslim veil which leaves only the eyes showing - after the Tunisian revolution in 2011.
"I feel like a princess when I walk down the street wearing this," she says. "The niqab and even the hijab were forbidden before the revolution, but now we feel more comfortable to practice our religious activities."
Ms Nasser, and other conservative Tunisians like her, have benefited from the new-found religious freedom in post-revolutionary Tunisia.
With an Islamist party now holding the majority of seats in government, the aggressively secular policies of the old regimes are out, while beards and veils are increasingly in on Tunisia's streets.
That has some Tunisian women worried.
At a recent demonstration, around 800 people pushed down Avenue Habib Bourguiba in central Tunis, chanting for a "secular state" and against "the party of the Brotherhood".
Several middle-aged women were pulling reluctant, gauche teenage girls off the pavement. "March with us - this is your future too" they urged.
"Tunisia has always been an advanced country in the Arab world when it comes to women's rights, but now unfortunately our rights are threatened," blogger Lina Ben Mhenni explained, away from the crowd, the Tunisian flag draped over her shoulders.
"Before the revolution we used to ask for more rights, for total equality, but now we're just trying to preserve and keep the rights we already have," she said.
Under President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisian women enjoyed more freedoms than their sisters elsewhere in the Arab world.
They can divorce on equal terms and polygamy is banned - in many Muslim countries, men are allowed to take up to four wives - although the law still grants men a greater share of inheritance.
"The situation for women in Tunisia now two years after the fall of the regime is mixed
More...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21925753
Two years after the long-time government was ousted in Tunisia, some women are enjoying their freedom to wear Islamic clothes such as the niqab, while others are afraid of losing their rights, reports Caroline Anning.
Arije Nasser greets me in her living room in the dusty, wind-blown Tunisian town of Gafsa with the traditional two kisses on the cheek - but through a swathe of black material.
The 22 year-old English student chose to put on the niqab - the full Muslim veil which leaves only the eyes showing - after the Tunisian revolution in 2011.
"I feel like a princess when I walk down the street wearing this," she says. "The niqab and even the hijab were forbidden before the revolution, but now we feel more comfortable to practice our religious activities."
Ms Nasser, and other conservative Tunisians like her, have benefited from the new-found religious freedom in post-revolutionary Tunisia.
With an Islamist party now holding the majority of seats in government, the aggressively secular policies of the old regimes are out, while beards and veils are increasingly in on Tunisia's streets.
That has some Tunisian women worried.
At a recent demonstration, around 800 people pushed down Avenue Habib Bourguiba in central Tunis, chanting for a "secular state" and against "the party of the Brotherhood".
Several middle-aged women were pulling reluctant, gauche teenage girls off the pavement. "March with us - this is your future too" they urged.
"Tunisia has always been an advanced country in the Arab world when it comes to women's rights, but now unfortunately our rights are threatened," blogger Lina Ben Mhenni explained, away from the crowd, the Tunisian flag draped over her shoulders.
"Before the revolution we used to ask for more rights, for total equality, but now we're just trying to preserve and keep the rights we already have," she said.
Under President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisian women enjoyed more freedoms than their sisters elsewhere in the Arab world.
They can divorce on equal terms and polygamy is banned - in many Muslim countries, men are allowed to take up to four wives - although the law still grants men a greater share of inheritance.
"The situation for women in Tunisia now two years after the fall of the regime is mixed
More...