"Equality, Equality in the rights and the duties" read these banners held aloft at night on the streets in the capital of Tunisia. Women's rights here are under threat as the row grows over Islam's place in the law. Some 6,000 women and hundreds more male supporters are protesting against a stipulation in a draft of the constitution which says women are only 'complementary to men'. Activists are angry, they want the pioneering 1956 law that stated women are equal to men to remain untouched. Farah, who's an Engineer, says: "Our goal is to show that Tunisian woman aren't complementary to men because they are independent and equal to men. We're here to show that we're also hard working citizens and we'll never accept being considered complementary to men."

Hardline Salafi Muslims appear to be applying pressure on the ruling Ennahda Movement in Tunisia's new coalition government to introduce Islamic law. Many fear doing that might drag the country backwards from being one of the most liberal countries in the Arab world. But the party'spromised not to impose strict Muslim rules and to respect women's rights.