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Four years ago, Medfeminiswiya launched its website with a special feature on the sexual and reproductive rights of women across the Mediterranean. Since then—from the inclusion of abortion rights in the French Constitution, to their restriction in certain European countries, and their continued prohibition in most nations on the southern shore—being able to control their own bodies, to choose whether or not to have children, and to free themselves from a sexuality constrained by marriage remains a distant hope for millions of women.
Tunisia is the only country in the southern Mediterranean where abortion has been legal since 1973. It also attracts many couples from the region suffering from infertility , thanks to the presence and strong reputation its assisted reproduction clinics. Sexual and reproductive rights in the Mediterranean vary widely from one country to another, shaped by populist political contexts and by conservative religious and socio-economic systems. In countries such as Egypt, Morocco and Turkey, reproductive rights remain limited, notably due to traditionalist social norms and restrictive laws.
Inequalities are especially severe for migrant women, as in Spain and specially in Turkey, where Syrian women struggle to access reproductive healthcare. In Algeria, female sexuality remains confined to the triptych of marriage, motherhood, and silence. Particularly for the most invisible women—those with disabilities. In Serbia, many girls and women still lack access to their chosen and adequate method of contraception. In Italy, the situation is increasingly difficult for women seeking an abortion, who face humiliation, judgment, and even violence.
The Mediterranean has also, for the past two years, been the center of a war waged largely against Gaza’s civilians. One of the most harrowing images of this war was the attack on Gaza’s nine IVF clinics, where embryos—the last hope for infertile families—were destroyed. In Gaza, even life before it begins is being wiped out…
This dossier looks back at the struggle waged by women across the Mediterranean to reclaim control over their own bodies.
