{"id":1605,"date":"2026-10-06T15:14:43","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T15:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mara-med.org\/?p=1605"},"modified":"2026-10-06T15:14:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T15:14:43","slug":"medfeminiswiyas-interview-feminist-journalism-reproductive-rights-and-abortion-coverage-in-the-mediterranean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mara-med.org\/ar\/medfeminiswiyas-interview-feminist-journalism-reproductive-rights-and-abortion-coverage-in-the-mediterranean\/","title":{"rendered":"Medfeminiswiya\u2019s Interview: Feminist Journalism, Reproductive Rights, and Abortion Coverage in the Mediterranean"},"content":{"rendered":"

Olfa Belhassine is a Tunisian journalist and writer. She worked for 34 years at the daily newspaper La Presse, from 1989 to 2023. Throughout her career, she has focused on investigative reporting, social transformations, and women’s rights in Tunisia and the wider Mediterranean region. In 2013, she received the first Arab Women\u2019s Center Journalism Award for her investigation on customary marriages. Since 2015, she has also served as the Tunis correspondent for JusticeInfo.net. Created to give visibility to crucial societal changes and feminist perspectives, she co-authored the book Ces nouveaux mots qui font la Tunisie<\/em> in 2016, and since 2024, she has been the Editor-in-Chief of Medfeminiswiya, an independent platform dedicated to amplifying women’s voices across the Mediterranean region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could you introduce yourself and tell us about your professional journey as a journalist and feminist?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a Tunisian journalist, I worked for the Tunisian French-language daily newspaper La Presse from 1988 to 2024. In 2013, I received the first Journalism Award presented by the Arab Women\u2019s Center for an investigative report on customary marriage in Tunisia. In 2016, I co-authored, with Hedia Baraket, the investigative book \u00abCes nouveaux mots qui font la Tunisie\u00bb, which explored the transformations of Tunisian society following the revolution. As a co-founder of the platform for feminist and Mediterranean journalists, Medfeminiswiya, I initially served as its Tunisian correspondent from 2021, before becoming its editor-in-chief in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could you tell us about Medfeminiswiya? Why and how was this media platform created? What is its mission today?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medfeminiswiya.network, an association established in France in 2020, launched the feminist news website Medfeminiswiya in 2021. The project grew out of an initiative developed as early as 2018 with the support of the Foundation for Women in the Mediterranean, in response to the need for media coverage dedicated to women in the Euro-Mediterranean region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medfeminiswiya aims to give a voice to those who are too often rendered invisible, to promote women\u2019s and girls\u2019 access to journalism as a profession, and to produce and disseminate high-quality information that can contribute to defending and strengthening women\u2019s rights. Since its creation, the network has adopted a firmly feminist editorial line. Today, it brings together more than 50 journalists, the majority of whom are based in countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean. Together, they explore issues that are often poorly covered\u2014or not covered at all\u2014by mainstream media: violence against women, different forms of marginalization experienced by women, women who live on the streets or are homeless, feminist artists, and spaces reserved exclusively for women. Through these features, reports, and investigations, Medfeminiswiya offers a perspective that is both feminist and Mediterranean on the realities experienced by women. For us, this is an editorial journey that is as demanding as it is exciting, and one that we continue to pursue with an ever-growing community of readers, particularly on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why and how did you decide to address the issue of abortion in the Mediterranean through Medfeminiswiya?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five years ago, Medfeminiswiya launched its website with a special feature on the sexual and reproductive rights of women in the Mediterranean. Since then, from the enshrinement of the right to abortion in the French Constitution, to restrictions on this right in some European countries, and its continued prohibition in most countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, the ability of millions of women to decide what happens to their bodies, to have or not have children, and to live their sexuality outside a framework defined by marriage still remains largely out of reach. That is why we wanted to revisit and explore this issue through a new special feature entitled \u201cIn the Mediterranean, Reproductive and Sexual Rights Under Pressure,\u201d published on December 11, 2025. We wanted to take stock of the struggles waged by women across the Mediterranean to regain control over their bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a feminist journalist, why do you think abortion remains one of the most sensitive and least-covered issues in the Arab world?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps because women\u2019s bodies are still held hostage by patriarchy. And because motherhood remains sacred in southern societies, where female sexuality is tolerated only when it is followed by reproduction. Yet motherhood alone does not define a woman!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does Medfeminiswiya take a different approach to covering abortion? How do you work, and what editorial principles guide you when addressing such a sensitive issue?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this special feature, supported by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, we adopted a long-term approach. Investigations and reports conducted by our various correspondents in their respective countries and local contexts formed the basis of this editorial project. When we cover sensitive issues such as abortion\u2014which remains prohibited in most Arab countries, with the exception of Tunisia\u2014we pay particular attention to our sources, especially those who have shared with us that they have undergone an abortion. We choose to keep their identities anonymous in order to protect them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What challenges do you and your team face as journalists when investigating or publishing reports on abortion, such as censorship, self-censorship, or social, legal, or political pressure?<\/strong>

Because our platform is based in France, we are relatively unaffected by censorship or self-censorship. In fact, for many of our journalists living and working in Arab countries, Medfeminiswiya represents the only opportunity to address issues concerning women\u2019s status and rights that are largely banned from the media in their countries. Our work as journalists is guided solely by professional ethical standards. However, our journalists may face difficulties in accessing or obtaining information in their local contexts whenever they cover issues such as abortion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many women hesitate to speak about their abortion experiences because of stigma and fear. How can journalists create safe and ethical spaces where these testimonies can be heard?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medfeminiswiya journalists know how to ensure the safety of women who discuss their abortion experiences during interviews. This means guaranteeing their anonymity, respecting their privacy, and above all, avoiding sensationalism, both when collecting their stories and when writing about their experiences. When publishing an article online, we avoid using images or videos that could reveal the identity of the person interviewed or show recognizable places where she lives or spends time. We also seek to obtain women\u2019s informed consent, making sure that they will not face retaliation as a result of speaking publicly through the media. What binds us to our sources is a relationship of trust and compassionate, non-judgmental listening. We follow the same empathetic approach towards women whenever we cover stories of violence against them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you collaborate with civil society organizations, feminist activists, or healthcare professionals when producing reports on this issue?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NGOs, feminist activists, and healthcare professionals are our allies and preferred sources when we produce articles on this issue. They are on the ground and understand better than anyone the challenges surrounding women\u2019s reproductive rights. They are experts with proven experience and\/or authors of publications on the subject. Giving doctors, psychiatrists, legal experts, and women\u2019s organizations a voice can provide an appropriate analysis and offer readers a better understanding of women\u2019s reproductive rights. We recently dedicated an interview to Dr. Selma Hajri, President of MARA-Med. This was actually the second interview we conducted with her. The first was published in 2021 as part of our initial special feature on sexual and reproductive rights in the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In your view, what do journalists need today\u2014training, legal protection, funding, professional networks, etc.\u2014to better cover issues related to reproductive rights?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this field, the role of the media is essential, not only in countering misinformation\u2014which is widespread on this issue\u2014but also in highlighting progress and drawing attention to the gaps that still need to be addressed. Certainly, journalists need greater awareness of women\u2019s reproductive rights in particular, and women\u2019s rights more broadly, through training and other capacity-building initiatives. They also need greater legal protection in countries where abortion remains criminalized. But sometimes these issues are banned by the conservative editorial policies of certain media outlets, and journalists do not even dare to propose stories on the subject to their editors-in-chief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The struggle to make abortion legal and freely accessible is set to continue in the countries of the southern Mediterranean, as well as in countries in the northern Mediterranean where anti-abortion movements are gaining ground. Feminists still have a great deal of work to do. This is why the commitment of an organization such as MARA-Med is so important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you had to make three recommendations to journalists who want to cover access to abortion and the stigma surrounding it in a more responsible and effective way, what would they be?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would say that journalists should become better informed about abortion and the issues surrounding it, choose their words carefully. Practice solutions journalism by including, in their articles, information about available support mechanisms, helplines, or the contact details of NGOs that can assist women experiencing distress or difficult circumstances.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Olfa Belhassine is a Tunisian journalist and writer. She worked for 34 years at the daily newspaper La Presse, from 1989 to 2023. Throughout her career, she has focused on…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mara-med.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mara-med.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mara-med.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mara-med.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mara-med.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1605"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mara-med.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1606,"href":"https:\/\/mara-med.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1605\/revisions\/1606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mara-med.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mara-med.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mara-med.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}