Tunisians, Others Cry Foul Over Women's Status Poll

You may have already heard about the Thomson Reuters Poll that asked experts on gender rights to rank Arab countries' performance on women's rights; the main headlines have noted that Egypt ranked dead last, even below Saudi Arabia. That, predictably, raised some eyebrows:

Some activists expressed shock that Egypt scored worse than conservative Saudi Arabia, where women's access to public space is limited and women need a male guardian's permission to work, travel abroad, open a bank account or enrol in higher education.

But some insights into the curious rankings may be gained by the uproar created by the original report's ranking of Tunisia as only sixth. Tunisians were puzzled by the reasons given: as noted by Tunisia Online:

The survey which was released on Monday erroneously stated that “polygamy remains widespread and contraception is illegal” in the country.

Tunisia was the first country in the Arab region to ban polygamy under the 1956 Personal Status Code. Abortion has also been authorised since 1973 and contraception is legal and available.

The survey which was released on Monday erroneously stated that “polygamy remains widespread and contraception is illegal” in the country.
Tunisia was the first country in the Arab region to ban polygamy under the 1956 Personal Status Code. Abortion has also been authorised since 1973 and contraception is legal and available.
- See more at: http://www.tunisia-live.net/2013/11/12/reuters-errs-on-polygamy-contraception-in-womens-rights-poll/#sthash.ydyWIqqW.dpuf

The survey which was released on Monday erroneously stated that “polygamy remains widespread and contraception is illegal” in the country.
Tunisia was the first country in the Arab region to ban polygamy under the 1956 Personal Status Code. Abortion has also been authorised since 1973 and contraception is legal and available.
- See more at: http://www.tunisia-live.net/2013/11/12/reuters-errs-on-polygamy-contraception-in-womens-rights-poll/#sthash.ydyWIqqW.dpuf

The survey which was released on Monday erroneously stated that “polygamy remains widespread and contraception is illegal” in the country.
Tunisia was the first country in the Arab region to ban polygamy under the 1956 Personal Status Code. Abortion has also been authorised since 1973 and contraception is legal and available.
- See more at: http://www.tunisia-live.net/2013/11/12/reuters-errs-on-polygamy-contraception-in-womens-rights-poll/#sthash.ydyWIqqW.dpuf

In fact, contraception is not only legal, it's free. The Tunisia Online story notes some of the Twitter commentary:

And sure enough, the original Reuters story has been "updated" to read:

In Tunisia, ranked best among Arab Spring nations, women hold 27 percent of seats in national parliament and contraception is legal, but polygamy is spreading and inheritance laws are biased towards males.

Thomson Reuters responded to Tunisia Online's queries by saying:

“The survey is an expert perception poll and as such is only based on the opinions of respondents, who were chosen for their general expertise on gender issues,” Thomson Reuters said.

To respect respondents’ anonymity, the foundation declined to give names of the gender experts surveyed on the situation of women’s rights in Tunisia. They did, however, give a statement regarding their updated article.

“Tunisia did not allow polygamy but after the revolution and the rise of Islamists, polygamy has been secretly practiced by Salafis – though never officially recognized,”

“The survey is an expert perception poll and as such is only based on the opinions of respondents, who were chosen for their general expertise on gender issues,” Thomson Reuters said.

To respect respondents’ anonymity, the foundation declined to give names of the gender experts surveyed on the situation of women’s rights in Tunisia. They did, however, give a statement regarding their updated article.

“Tunisia did not allow polygamy but after the revolution and the rise of Islamists, polygamy has been secretly practiced by Salafis – though never officially recognized,” Thomson Reuters explained.

Ah. So it was "an expert perception poll and as such is only based on the opinions of respondents," as opposed to a non-expert poll based on, oh, let's say, actual facts.

So who ranked first in the Arab World, you may ask, if Tunisia only ranked sixth?

Why, the Comoros Islands, of course.

Wait, you may say, aren't they down off the coast of Madagascar somewhere?  Well technically, yes they are. But they're really avid joiners: As the Comoros Wikipedia page notes:

The Comoros is the only state to be a member of the African Union, Francophonie, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Arab League (of which it is the southernmost state, being the only member of the Arab League which is entirely within the Southern Hemisphere) and the Indian Ocean Commission.

Also the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Cub Scouts, and the Sons of Confederate Veterans, for all I know. (My apologies to any Comoran readers, though Google Analytic tells me that in nearly five years of blogging, I haven't had a single one. The closest I come is five visits from Madagascar.)

I do not know how many Comorans think of themselves as Arabs, but I suspect few Arabs outside the Arab League Secretariat do.

It's sort of comparable, I suspect, to when the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) proposed admitting both Jordan and Morocco. Morocco, in particular, is not noticeably near the Gulf, nor does it even share a continent with it, but that's being picky. 

Thomson Reuters should have checked a few facts, I suspect.