Tunisia’s #MeToo: Lawmaker faces sexual harassment hearing

By FRANCESCA EBEL
Associated Press

NABEUL, Tunisia (AP) — A landmark case that helped galvanize Tunisia’s #MeToo movement has reached court, involving a legislator charged with sexual harassment and public indecency. Feminist activists held a small protest outside the courthouse, shouting chants and waving placards. In 2019, a schoolgirl posted photos on social media of parliament member Zouhair Makhlouf allegedly performing a sexual act in his car outside her high school. He denies wrongdoing. Makhlouf’s case was one of the flashpoints in 2019 that prompted thousands of Tunisians to take to social media to share their personal experiences of sexual violence and harassment.