A loophole in Tunisian law allows a rapist to walk free if he marries his teenage victim – if she consents. But as Amna tells us, how freely that consent is given is questionable.
I met him three months after I [left home]. He said he wanted to marry me, and one day called me to come to his house saying that he wanted to discuss things.
I went there and he forced himself on me. I stayed with him after he raped me. I was scared. I had no choice. He started beating me when I was seven months pregnant. He would beat me for no reason.
I was visited in hospital by the child protection delegate and two police officers who gave me two options: either marriage or reconciliation with my family. I didn’t have time to think.
I stayed with him after he raped me. I was scared. I had no choice.
Amna
The hospital notified them because I was a minor. The committee told him: “Either you take her or you go to prison. That’s the only solution”. So he married me and acknowledged our son.
No one from my family was present for the birth. My mother was present for the [marriage] contract so that I could get married.
I chose marriage because I couldn’t go back to my family with a child unmarried.