The demonstrators claimed plans by the Islamist-led government would reduce their rights.

Thousands of Tunisian women on Tuesday August 14 in the capital, Tunis, protested against a recently released draft constitution that describes women as complementary to men. The women who began the protests on Monday August 13, expressed fear that the new constitution will curtail rights gained under previous regimes.
The protesters numbering about 6,000 - who were also joined by some men - marched across Tunis’ main streets, demanding that the government that has been led since October 2011 by the moderate Islamist Ennahda Movement, turn its attention instead to basic issues such as unemployment and regional development. Reuters news agency said they carried banners calling for women to ensure that their rights are enshrined in the new constitution.
The BBC quoted Farida al-Obeidi, a member of Ennahda who chairs the Constituent Assembly's Human Rights and Public Freedoms panel as saying the wording of the draft constitution was not a backward step for Tunisian women. Instead, the draft stipulates the sharing of roles and does not mean that women are worth less than men, she told Reuters news agency.
Women activists are concerned that once approved, the new rules would lead to more setbacks. Ahlam Belhadj who heads the Democratic Women's Association argued that if the women remained silent today, it will open the door to similar attempts to erode their rights in future. The women therefore want a 1956 law that grants women full equality with men to remain in place.
Tunisia's ruling Ennahda Movement is under pressure from both hard-line Salafi Moslems - calling for the introduction of Islamic law - and secular opposition parties. The party has promised not to impose strict Moslem rules and to respect women's rights. It was banned under President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali who was toppled last year in mass protests.