Section 103 of Tunisia’s Personal Status Code limits daughters’ inheritance rights and provides that any sons inherit twice as much as daughters.
- Country: Tunisia
- Law status: Discriminatory law in force
- Law Type: Inheritance and Property
Section 103 of Tunisia’s Personal Status Code limits daughters’ inheritance rights and provides that any sons inherit twice as much as daughters.
Sex discrimination in economic status laws restricts women from being economically independent, limiting access to inheritance and property ownership as well as to employment opportunities, thereby reinforcing gender stereotypes and roles.
Sex discrimination in inheritance laws threatens women and their families around the world. In Tunisia, Halima struggles to feed her children and sick husband while her brothers use her father’s inheritance for vacations. Initially she’d received half, but in a common practice, was pressured by her family to give up her smaller share entirely. As she told the press, “I feel helpless and bitter. After receiving all our father’s inheritance, my brothers only care about their own families. They travel. And they’ve forgotten they have sisters.”
Section 103. There are three cases that apply to immediate daughters:
1. A sole daughter inherits half of the estate;
2. Two or more daughters collectively inherit two thirds of the estate;
3. Where there are any sons, the male inherits twice as much as the female.