Majorities of Tunisians also say they support women in various political roles. Respondents say they strongly or somewhat support women voting (95%), working at a voting center (88%), being members of political parties (82%), heading a political party (68%), working for a candidate during a campaign (61%), running as candidates in elections (74%), serving in parliament (75%), serving as ministers (71%) or participating in political protests (77%). Nevertheless, between 5% and 29% of Tunisians oppose women in these roles.
When looking at responses by gender, we see majorities of both men and women supporting women in the various political roles; however, higher percentages of women support women in each of these roles, and higher percentages of men oppose women in each these roles. Between 8% and 42% of Tunisian men oppose women in each of these roles.
There is less opposition amongst men for women voting and women working at a voting center, but over one-third of men oppose women in what can be considered more direct leadership roles: women as government ministers (39%), women in parliament (34%), women as candidates in an election (35%) or women heading a political party (42%). This is a notable gender gap, however, it must be noted that there is some opposition amongst women themselves as well (Figure 4).
Despite majority support for women in various political roles, opinions differ when discussing a woman president. When asked about voting for a woman president if she was equally qualified as a man, 63% of Tunisians say they would not vote for a woman president. Most men and women would not vote for a woman president for Tunisia, but women are more likely to say they would (40%) than men (24%). (Figure 5)
- Country: Tunisia
- Topic: Civic and Political Participation