Sana Ben Achour

Sana Ben Achour
سناء بن عاشور
Hafidha Chekir, Sana Ben Achour, Ansar Mnawer and Khedija Cherif, 2018
Born	1955 (age 69–70) La Marsa, Tunisia
Occupation(s)	Academic, lawyer, and activist
Title	Professor of Public Law, University of Carthage Faculty of Legal, Political, and Social Sciences, University of Carthage
Father	Mohamed Fadhel Ben Achour
Relatives	Yadh Ben Achour (brother) Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur (grandfather)

Sana Ben Achour (Arabic: سناء بن عاشور, born 1955) is a Tunisian academic, lawyer and activist, and a specialist in public law. She is a professor of public law at the Faculty of Legal, Political and Social Sciences at the University of Carthage. She is active in several feminist organisations, and has founded a women's refuge shelter.

Early life

Sana Ben Achour was born in La Marsa, Tunisia in 1955, daughter of the theologian Mohamed Fadhel Ben Achour (1909–1970).[1] She is the sister of Rafâa and Yadh Ben Achour.[2][3]

Career

Ben Achour's career has focused on legal education and scientific research in law, and her work covers four main areas: urbanism and cultural heritage, Tunisian law during the colonial period, the status of women, and democracy and civil liberties.[4]

An activist committed to equality and citizenship, she is involved with several organizations: the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (Association tunisienne des femmes démocrates - ATFD), of which she has been the president, the Association of University Women for Research and Development, and the Collective Maghreb 95 Equality.[1][4][5] She is a member of the Higher Committee for Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and a founding member of the National Council for Liberties in Tunisia.[4][5]

In 2012, she founded a women's refuge shelter, Beity (translation: My Home), for single mothers and other women in need, including poor and abused women.[6] Ben Achour is also a member of the Tunisian human rights League.[7]

In 2015, she was included in the BBC's 100 Women,[8] celebrating 21st century women worldwide.[6]

In August 2016, she declined to receive the Order of the Republic from the President of Tunisia, Béji Caïd Essebsi in protest at the treatment of women in her country.[2]

Publications

• Violences à l'égard des femmes: les lois du genre, Tunis, Réseau euro-méditerranéen des droits de l'homme, 2016
• Dictionnaire des termes et des expressions de la constitution tunisienne, Tunis, Faculté des sciences juridiques de Tunis, 2017, (With Rafâa Ben Achour, Sarra Maaouia Kacem, Mouna Kraiem Dridi et Amira Chaouch)

References

1. "Sana Ben Achour". www.fanoos.com. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
2. "Sana Ben Achour refuse d'être décorée par Béji Caïd Essebsi - Kapitalis". kapitalis.com. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
3. Aicha, Mounir Ben. "Sana BEN ACHOUR et la loi tunisienne sur l'héritage". www.lesitesfaxien.net. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
4. "Sana Ben Achour : Femmes et droit en islam". Le Monde. 2 October 2007. Retrieved 8 November 2017 – via Le Monde.
5. "TUNISIE. Une campagne au fort accent misogyne". courrierinternational.com. 24 October 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
6. "26 Arab women in 3 years: A look at BBC's 100 Women list - Arabian Women's Network". arabianwomensnetwork.com. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
7. Biography of Sana Ben Achour
8. "BBC 100 Women 2015: Who is on the list?". BBC News. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2019.