Tunisian Social Observatory  

January–March 2026 Report 

Social activists continue their protests and demand the restoration of their lost rights 

The upward trend in social activism continued during the first quarter of 2026, with a total of 1,310 protests—an increase of approximately 15.7% compared to the same period in 2025, during which the country recorded 1,132 protests, and an increase of approximately 175% compared to the first quarter of 2024, which recorded only 475 protests.  

Based on the figures collected over the past few months, it can be said that the social actor has maintained a similar pace of activity over the past fifteen months, suggesting that it has emerged from the stagnation and disorganization that had affected it, and has resumed using forms of protest as a means of asserting its rights and expressing its anger, rejection, and discontent.  

Labor demands and the right to employment have once again come to the forefront and form the core of the movement in the first quarter of the year, accounting for nearly half of the actions documented by the team at the Tunisian Social Observatory of the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights. Social actors continue their quest for ways to assert their right to work and to a dignified life. Their demands are intertwined and overlapping, encompassing the right to employment, the regularization of employment status, improved working conditions, the right to permanent status, demands for the payment of wages and benefits, as well as the implementation of pending agreements. It also continues to address long-standing issues dating back more than a decade, such as those concerning teachers and substitute teachers, as well as daycare workers, particularly those over the age of 45. 

Civil and political protests, meanwhile, have maintained their momentum and accounted for one-third of the demonstrations recorded during January, February, and March. Political demonstrations and rallies continue, whether in support of imprisoned political opponents or demanding the release of individuals arrested for their civil activities or in connection with what is known as the “conspiracy case.”  

New arrests were recorded during this quarter, notably those of several activists from “Fleet al-Soumoud,” following which a number of demonstrations and rallies were also organized.  

During this same period, Salwa Ghrisa was released, following the release of Charifa Riahi; both had been detained because of their civic activism. Meanwhile, lawyer Ahmed Swab was also released; he had been detained following a statement he made to the media during the second hearing of the so-called “conspiracy against state security” case, which involves a large number of political figures, human rights defenders, and activists.  

Other cases filed during the first quarter of the year concerned claims related to the right to development, the right to security and safety, protection, the right to a healthy environment and clean water, the right to education, the right to a dignified life, the right to transportation, and the right to health.  

The protests shared fairly similar general characteristics throughout this three-month period, centering on the same demands and rights despite variations in numbers. Thus, January saw 501 protests, making it the month with the highest number of demonstrations, followed by February, which saw 335 protests and coincided in part with the start of Ramadan, before the trend resumed its upward trajectory with 462 protests recorded in March.  

The Tunisian Social Observatory continues to monitor the widespread discontent among the Tunisian population, stemming from rising prices, a declining standard of living, and the difficulty of meeting the demands of daily life, as well as protests against the deterioration of infrastructure, the right to a peaceful environment (the dismantling of facilities at the Gabès chemical complex), the decline in hygiene standards, the poor quality of public administrative services, the inadequacy of public transportation, unequal access to healthcare, medication supplies, and education, the deterioration of the judicial system, as well as the problem of drinking water shortages. Other protests also focused on violations of trade union rights, as well as the supply of fertilizer and irrigation water for farmers. 

The capital, Tunis, which serves as the symbolic center of power, continues to rank first among the regions that experienced a wave of protests during the first quarter of the year, with 390 demonstrations, followed by the governorate of Gafsa, which saw 204, and then, in third place, the governorate of Manouba with 80 demonstrations, followed by Nabeul with 66, Sfax with 58, Tataouine with 56, Kairouan with 47, Kasserine with 36, and Ben Arous with 3, as well as Medenine, Bizerte with 32 demonstrations, and Sousse with 31 demonstrations. Furthermore, all governorates of the Republic experienced protest demonstrations during the first quarter of the year, with Mahdia recording the lowest number at 9 demonstrations, Zaghouan at 12, and Le Kef at 14. 

Blue-collar workers were the most active social actors during the first quarter of the year, with 331 protests. They were followed by activists, who organized 236 protests; then by citizens, who participated in 127 protests; then by teachers and professors, who organized 122 protests; and finally by union members, with 108 protests. Unemployed individuals with a college degree participated in 75 actions, employees in 63, agricultural workers in 49, lawyers organized 44 actions, prisoners led 22 actions, and journalists participated in 21 actions. The remaining protests were carried out by farmers, medical and paramedical staff, public and private transportation drivers, students, shopkeepers, sports fans, and athletes.  

Social actors used virtual spaces as a platform to present their demands in 31% of the actions recorded, and relied on statements and calls for help on social media or in the media to make their voices heard, demonstrate, or articulate their demands. On-the-ground actions, meanwhile, accounted for approximately 69% of the recorded actions. Protest rallies were organized during 316 actions, while 193 actions involved strikes and 168 involved sit-ins. Hunger strikes accounted for 121 of the protests recorded during the first quarter of the year. The wearing of red armbands was also observed on 55 occasions, and 13 peaceful marches were organized during the same period; other forms of protest were adopted, such as road blockades, work stoppages, tire burnings, strike threats, and boycotts of classes.  

In more than 90% of the actions taken, civil society actors turned to official authorities in their various forms, starting with the Office of the Prime Minister and the Office of the President of the Republic, as well as regional bodies, ministries, municipalities, and governors, As for the remainder, these included judicial authorities, employers, the Phosphates de Gafsa company, the National Water Supply and Distribution Company, and the relevant Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company.  

During the first quarter, 22 cases of suicide and attempted suicide were recorded, 15 of which involved men and the rest women, the majority of whom were in the youth and adult age groups. Children, meanwhile, accounted for about a quarter of those who took their own lives during this period.  

In January, there were five cases of suicide and attempted suicide, including one girl under the age of 18 (a child) and the rest men, among whom was a security guard who took his own life with his service weapon. February saw an increase in the number of suicides and suicide attempts, with 9 cases documented by the Tunisian Social Observatory’s working group, and 8 cases and suicide attempts were recorded during the month of March.  

In 10 instances, those who committed suicide chose a private space (their home) to end their lives, while a public space was chosen in 9 cases, distributed among the street, schools, the workplace, hospitals, and courthouses. In 7 cases, self-harm was intended as a form of protest and a rejection of reality; the motive was either socio-economic or linked to campaigns of harassment, intimidation, and gender-based violent assaults.  

Sousse recorded 4 suicides, Kebili 3, while Monastir, Bizerte, Medenine, and Nabeul each recorded 2; the remaining cases were distributed among Kasserine, Kairouan, Le Kef, Mahdia, Tunis, Sfax, and Gafsa, with one case in each governorate.  

Overall, the recorded cases and suicide attempts reflect anger, rejection, and a sense of insecurity and vulnerability—both psychological and related to economic and social realities—which drives the most vulnerable individuals to express these feelings through self-harm and by taking their own lives. 

During the first quarter of the year, violence took various forms and encompassed virtually all types of violence addressed by the Tunisian Social Observatory team: physical violence, accounting for 31.6% of reported cases; institutional violence, accounting for 21.1%; financial violence (18.4%); psychological and emotional violence (5.3% of recorded cases), gender-based violence (15.8% of documented cases), social and cultural violence (also 5.3%), and domestic violence (2.6%). This period was also marked by political violence and state-organized structural violence. In many cases, the forms of violence documented are interdependent and overlap within a single incident, intensifying them and making them more extreme, cruel, and violent. In more than half of the documented incidents, this violence is of a criminal nature.  

The widening scope of violence can be interpreted as a clear sign of growing frustration; it can also be seen as a means of defense and protest against powerlessness and failure, as well as a form of expression of popular discontent and anger. This discontent may, in other contexts, be directed against the authorities who initially created it and then transformed it into one of their mechanisms of control.  

Violence is spreading and affecting various Tunisian cities. It affects all age groups and genders, sparing no one, whether aggressors or victims. This widespread nature of the violence can be explained by the scale of the economic and social violations we are enduring and by the failure of the judicial system… Not to mention the consequences of hate speech, particularly that emanating from official bodies, which incites violence and revenge in a context of persistent impunity. 

The spread of violence leads time and again to the repetition of the same pattern, which encompasses the entire country, sparing no city or region, and intensifies in areas where social inequalities, poverty, and economic marginalization are most severe, fueling despair and encouraging acts of violence. 

The three governorates of Tunis, Nabeul, and Kairouan recorded the highest rates of violence for the year. Men accounted for 94.74% of perpetrators, while 2.63% of violence cases involved people of mixed gender or women. Men accounted for 57% of victims, while 17.54% of victims were women and 25.44% of cases of violence involved people of mixed gender. Locations of violence included prisons, the private sphere, public spaces, schools, workplaces, public and private transportation, as well as the virtual space, which has become a setting for the production and reproduction of violence in all its forms and types, and a space for defamation, denigration, and insults against others, without oversight or accountability.