| Sana Ben Achour | |
| Native Name: | سناء بن عاشور |
| Native Name Lang: | ar |
| Birth Place: | La Marsa, Tunisia |
| Occupation: | Academic, lawyer, and activist |
| Professor of Public Law, University of Carthage Faculty of Legal, Political, and Social Sciences, University of Carthage | |
| Father: | Mohamed Fadhel Ben Achour |
| Relatives: | Yadh Ben Achour (brother) Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur (grandfather) |
Sana Ben Achour (Arabic: سناء بن عاشور, born 1955) is a Tunisian academic, lawyer and activist, and a specialist in public law. She is a professor of public law at the Faculty of Legal, Political and Social Sciences at the University of Carthage. She is active in several feminist organisations, and has founded a women's refuge shelter.
Sana Ben Achour was born in La Marsa, Tunisia in 1955, daughter of the theologian Mohamed Fadhel Ben Achour (1909–1970).[1] She is the sister of Rafâa and Yadh Ben Achour.[2] [3]
Ben Achour's career has focused on legal education and scientific research in law, and her work covers four main areas: urbanism and cultural heritage, Tunisian law during the colonial period, the status of women, and democracy and civil liberties.[4]
An activist committed to equality and citizenship, she is involved with several organizations: the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (Association tunisienne des femmes démocrates - ATFD), of which she has been the president, the Association of University Women for Research and Development, and the Collective Maghreb 95 Equality.[1] [4] [5] She is a member of the Higher Committee for Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and a founding member of the National Council for Liberties in Tunisia.[4] [5]
In 2012, she founded a women's refuge shelter, Beity (translation: My Home), for single mothers and other women in need, including poor and abused women.[6] Ben Achour is also a member of the Tunisian human rights League.[7]
In 2015, she was included in the BBC's 100 Women,[8] celebrating 21st century women worldwide.[6]
In August 2016, she declined to receive the Order of the Republic from the President of Tunisia, Béji Caïd Essebsi in protest at the treatment of women in her country.[2]