Imen Neffati wins two research grants to undertake research in Tunisia

NEWS |

Congratulations to Dr Imen Neffati who has been awarded two research grants this year to fund her research in Tunisia. Imen comments:

"In February 2021, I was awarded the Research England Strategic Priority Policy Engagement fund to undertake a public impact project in partnership with four local women’s organisation leaders' in Tunisia. Due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, I had to be creative, hiring and supervising three graduate students based in Tunisia as research assistants, thus creating opportunities for and collaborations with local residents. This helped complete important archival and ethnographic work and build connections and networks with civil society in Tunisia.

In summer 2021, I was awarded the John Fell Fund to conduct interviews, archival research, and focus groups to investigate the process of legal reform when it comes to family law and gender equality. I conducted interviews with over forty people in Tunisia including government officials, jurists, MPs, and women's organisations leaders, including the members of the governmental committee responsible for drafting the inheritance reform.

Thanks to these two grants, I have gathered an important amount of primary sources, which I plan to use to produce several individual and collaborative research outputs, and hopefully extending the research to other Muslim countries, as well as covering other themes related to family law and gender equality."