"Sweetie", "love", "pregnant again?" These little everyday phrases conceal a reality far darker than it appears. Hager Karoui, founder of the Facebook group "Sayeb Salha" — a Tunisian adaptation of the expression "leave her alone", cast in the feminine — helps us decode this silent scourge that still too often eats away at our professional and personal environments.
What exactly is everyday sexism?
Everyday sexism shows itself through attitudes, remarks and behaviours that discredit women or cast them as inferior. This form of discrimination creates differential treatment between people who are nonetheless in an identical situation.
How sexism shows up day to day
In the professional world, everyday sexism wears a thousand faces. It begins with infantilising nicknames such as "sweetie" and extends to being excluded from important assignments or systematically ignored in meetings. The difficulty? Proving that a file slipped away from us because of our gender is often an uphill battle.
This discrimination takes root in childhood. The stereotypes persist: pink dolls for girls, blue guns for boys. Schoolbooks perpetuate these clichés by associating cooking with women, medicine with men.
Figures that speak for themselves
The statistics reveal the scale of the phenomenon. In Tunisia, women account for 60% of university graduates but only 24.6% of the active workforce. Female unemployment stands at 20.1% against 12.9% for men, and climbs to 30.8% among women with higher education degrees, compared with 15.7% among their male counterparts.
Internationally, 77% of women employees regularly face sexist attitudes or decisions at work, according to the 2025 everyday sexism barometer. More alarming still: one woman in two has already had her competence called into question because of her gender.
In neighbouring Morocco, 44% of women have been exposed to sexual harassment or minor professional aggressions, yet only 59% of victims reported these incidents to their employer. 15% of working women have experienced some form of violence at work, a figure that climbs to 22% among divorced women and 21% among day labourers.
Even though co-education has existed since independence and school remains compulsory for all, the disparities persist. The school enrolment rate for Tunisian girls rose from 49% in 1975 to 99% in 2012, but after the baccalaureate, 74% of pupils on literary tracks are girls, against only 30% on scientific tracks.
How do you fight sexism in the workplace?
A damning regional picture
Maghreb and African statistics confirm this worrying trend. In Tunisia, according to 2022 data from the National Institute of Statistics, the unemployment rate among women with higher education degrees climbs to 30.8%, against 15.7% among men. Despite their academic results, young women suffer from poor integration into economic life.
In Morocco, a 2019 national survey by the High Commission for Planning reveals that 15% of working women have experienced some form of violence at work. The figure rises to 22% among divorced women and 21% among day labourers. More than 41% of sexual harassment cases come from line managers, while 29% come from colleagues.
Worldwide, 77% of women employees regularly face sexist attitudes or decisions at work, according to the 2025 barometer. More than one in five people in employment (22.8%) has suffered violence or harassment at work, reveals the first global survey by the ILO.
| Area | Indicator | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Tunisia | Women among higher education graduates / the active workforce | 60% of graduates, but 24.6% of the active workforce |
| Tunisia | Female unemployment | 20.1% (against 12.9% among men) |
| Tunisia | Unemployment among women with higher education degrees | 30.8% (against 15.7% among men) |
| Tunisia | World ranking on gender equality | Fell from 90th to 124th place between 2006 and 2020 |
| Morocco | Women exposed to sexual harassment or minor professional aggressions | 44% (only 59% of victims report it to their employer) |
| Morocco | Working women having experienced some form of violence at work | 15% (22% among divorced women, 21% among day labourers) |
| International | Women employees facing sexist attitudes or decisions at work | 77% (2025 barometer) |
| International | Workers having suffered violence or harassment at work (ILO) | 22.8% |
Concrete solutions to put in place
The fight against everyday sexism calls for a comprehensive approach:
Applying a zero-tolerance principle with systematic sanctions for reprehensible behaviour. This policy must be visible: display the commitment in the reception hall, communicate about the cases handled and their outcomes.
Compulsory training for every new member of staff. Everyone must understand what sexism is and what its concrete consequences are. The idea that certain acts are "harmless" has to be dismantled.
Creating a supportive climate that allows anyone to raise the subject, with psychological support if needed.
Can women be sexist?
Absolutely! Sexism does not belong exclusively to men. Women also carry sexist stereotypes against other women. According to data from the #StOpE barometer, 33% of sexist acts are perceived as coming as much from women as from men.
This reality is particularly visible in Tunisia where, despite exceptional legal advances with the Personal Status Code, mentalities change more slowly. Women in positions of power can sometimes reproduce the patterns of domination they themselves have endured.
Female rivalry in the workplace sometimes generates a power struggle that expresses itself through sexist remarks or acts. This competition between women is often explained by the scarcity of senior positions open to them.
Unconscious sexism: myth or reality?
Contrary to received wisdom, everyday sexism always conceals an intent to harm. Making sexist remarks or adopting a sexist attitude is aimed at wounding and setting the other apart. Women feel it instinctively.
What makes it so hard to bear is the difficulty of naming the aggression and responding to it in the moment. The attack targets one's sex, not one's skills or personality.
Chivalry or sexism: where does the line fall?
A subtle but essential distinction
Sexism turns the difference between the sexes into a negative judgement on intelligence and competence. Chivalry belongs to the realm of respectful courtship.
The difference? Genuine courtship is played out by two people, in a two-way dialogue. Sexist humour or sexist advances impose themselves without leaving any possibility of replying.
Complimenting an outfit can be pleasant and flattering if it allows for a balanced exchange. Holding a door expresses respect. Picking up the bill belongs to the codes of courtship — provided none of it is used to establish a relationship of domination.
How should you respond to everyday sexism?
Two strategies: clashing and confronting
Clashing (to be avoided): firing back tit for tat, crying or leaving the room. This reaction brings a boomerang effect and a dead-end escalation.
Confronting (recommended): position yourself "alongside" rather than opposite. Use "I" to express how you feel: "I feel sad when you don't acknowledge my work" or "That kind of remark damages our working relationship".
The 24-hour technique
Faced with a hurtful sexist act, let the night pass so you can calm down and put it into words more clearly. Talk it over with someone you trust to avoid over-interpreting. The next day, attempt constructive confrontation.
One word of warning, though: some men will remain deaf to these demands despite all your efforts.
What role for public authorities?
The institutional fight against everyday sexism runs along several lines:
- Statistical visibility: Include these questions in major national surveys. In Tunisia, the gender equality ranking fell from 90th to 124th place worldwide between 2006 and 2020, according to the Global Gender Gap Report.
- Legal definition: Set up working groups to define sexism more precisely in legal terms. The Maghreb countries are making progress: Morocco adopted law 103-13 in 2018 against harassment in public spaces.
- Raising awareness in companies: Develop channels for redress and train economic actors. Globally, only 2.9% of Tunisian companies have majority female capital.
- Channels of expression: Multiply the routes for redress via HR departments, line managers, psychologists and dedicated points of contact.
Towards calmer relationships
The aim is not to create sanitised relationships between men and women. The codes of love and courtship should be maintained, while banishing everything that reduces women to a supposed lack of competence tied to their sex.
The "Sayeb Salha" group founded by Hager Karoui sets itself apart from the "Ena Zeda" movement (the Tunisian Me Too) through its specific approach: denouncing everyday sexism and patriarchy in all its daily manifestations. This Tunisian initiative perfectly illustrates the need to name and fight these symbolic forms of violence.
Everyday sexism is anything but harmless. Recognising how it shows itself is the first step towards more balanced professional and personal relationships. Because behind every "sweetie" hides a symbolic violence that it is time to dismantle.
