The proposed law change will soon be discussed in committee, before being submitted to a plenary session in parliament.
The legislation has unleashed passionate debate in families, on television shows and among political parties.
It has also reopened a fissure on the place of religion in Tunisian society, as tensions rise ahead of elections later this year.
‘I love her very much’
In the hamlets of fertile Jendouba, many men are anxious to safeguard their privilege.
“I work this land — it’s normal that I have more than my sister”, said Mehrez Sakhri, who owns one of the farms Latifa works on.
“It is what our grandfathers said” should happen.
“This is the way the land has been passed on. Perhaps in 2040, things could change — but not now”, Sakhri added, as his workers harvested peas.
Mehrez’s father Mohammed is less resistant to change.
Mohammed said he would like to share the family’s 30 hectares equally between his sons and his only daughter, who he “loves very much”.
And making inheritance law equal is not trespassing on religious matters, he added.
“Many people are greedy. They cite the Koran to demand a two-thirds inheritance, but when it comes to paying the 10 percent” nobody bothers, Mohammed said, referring to an obligation in the Muslim holy text to pay a tenth of one’s income as alms to the poor.
For activist and lawyer Sana Ben Achour, the unequal inheritance law is rooted in a “patriarchal tradition”, which is sometimes dressed up in religious terms, leaving women vulnerable.
“In large parts of Tunisia, women don’t even get the small share of inheritance that they’re entitled to — especially when it comes to land and homes,” she said.
Without receiving their share “they can only work, so when a woman retires or is sick and has no income, she falls into a precarious situation”.
