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Benin
Summary of Domestic Prohibition
Slavery and slave trade
There appears to be no legislation in place in Benin specifically prohibiting slavery, although the 1966 Awad report notes that agreements for the purpose of enslaving another person are illegal, subject to the provisions of the Civil Code, and thus rendered null and void. Placing or receiving a person in pledge is identified as a punishable offence in the report.
Practices similar to slavery
There appears to be no legislation in place in Benin which prohibits institutions and practices similar to slavery, although article 31 of Law No 2011-26 makes forced marriage an offence.
Servitude
There appears to be no legislation in place in Benin which prohibits servitude, although the 1966 Awad report notes that agreements for the purpose of placing a person in servile status are illegal, subject to the provisions of the Civil Code, and thus rendered null and void. Placing or receiving a person in pledge is identified as a punishable offence in the report.
Forced or compulsory labour
Provisions related to forced labour are found in the Labour Code which forbids forced labour at article 3 and makes it punishable by fine and/or imprisonment in article 303.
Human trafficking
Provisions related to trafficking in persons are found in the 2018 Penal Code at Articles 499 to 504.
Forced marriage
Provisions related to forced marriage in Benin are found in the 2018 Criminal Code, which addresses the abuse of authority over minors to force them into an unwanted marriage at Article 578, with a potential penalty of imprisonment for three to ten years and a potential fine of three times the dowry amount, with a minimum fine of 500,000 CFA francs. The penalty increases to five to ten years of criminal imprisonment if the forced marriage is preceded or followed by forcible confinement, violence or assault. Provisions related to forced marriage in Benin are also found in the 2011 Law on the Prevention and Punishment of Violence Against Women, which prohibits those who are guilty or complicit in a forced marriage or forced cohabitation at Article 31, with a potential penalty of imprisonment of one to three years and a fine ranging from 500,000 to 2,000,000 francs. Those involved in the planning and/or execution of forced marriage or forced cohabitation are also guilty. Forced marriage is defined in Article 3 as “any marriage or cohabitation contracted decided without the free and informed consent of both parties involved”.
Consent to marriage
Provisions requiring consent to marriage in Benin are found in the Family Code 2002, section 119 of which states that each of the future spouses, even a minor, must personally consent to the wedding. The husband has acquired his full freedom or that the error has been recognized by him; for lack of parental authorization, when the marriage has been expressly approved or tacitly by the person whose consent was necessary or when the latter, before the majority of the husband, allowed a year to pass without exercising the action when he was aware of the marriage, or finally if the husband has reached nineteen (19) years of age without having made a complaint. Section 145 further recognises that the consent of a party or prospective party to a marriage is invalidated where the person was subjected to coercion.
Servile marriage
There appears to be no legislation in Benin that prohibits servile matrimonial transactions.
Marriage trafficking
Provisions related to marriage trafficking in Benin are found in the 2018 Penal Code, which prohibits practices similar to slavery at Article 409, with a potential penalty of imprisonment from ten to twenty years.
Minimum age for marriage
The minimum age for marriage in Benin is 18, without differentiation by gender, as set out on Article 120 of the 2002 Family Act. Where marriages are conducted involving a person below the minimum age, the marriage is relatively null, as set out on Article 145 the 2002 Family Act. However, marriages below this age are permitted for serious reason by order of the president of the court, as stated in Article 123 the 2002 Family Act. These exceptions are not differentiated by gender.
Region
Africa
Regional Court
African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights
Legal System
Civil
International Instruments
International Obligations
- Slavery
- Servitude
- Forced Labour
- Human Trafficking
- Marriage Practices Similar to Slavery
- Marriage Trafficking
Regional Organisations
- African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights
- African Union
- Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
- ECOWAS
Legislative Provisions
1966 AWAD REPORT
Paragraph 132, page 52:
Any agreement for the purpose of enslaving another person, placing him in servile status or in slavery is of course illegal or in violation of public order and consequently subject to the provisions of the Civil Code, which renders it null and void.
Paragraph 135:
Any person who places or receives another person in pledge, for whatever reason, is liable to a term of imprisonment of not less than one month or more than two years and a fine of from 2400 to 24000 francs, or to one or the other of those penalties. The prison sentence may be extended to five years if the person placed or received in pledge is under fifteen years of age. Persons guilty of those offences may also, in all cases, be deprived of the rights mentioned in article 42 of the Penal Code for a period of not less than five and not more than ten years.
Paragraph 136:
In addition, any attacks on the human person such as coercion, violence, assault and battery, deliberate injury, mutilation or even mere threats, etc., are criminal offences under the Penal Code.
CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BENIN 1990
Article 15
Each individual has the right to life, liberty, security and the integrity of his person.
Article 25
The State shall recognize and guarantee, under conditions fixed by law, the freedom to go and come, the freedom of association, of assembly, of procession and of demonstration.
Article 30
The State shall recognize for all citizens the right to work and shall strive to create conditions which shall make the enjoyment of this right effective and shall guarantee to the worker just compensation for his services or for his production.
CRIMINAL CODE
Articles 330 to 340:
Deal with acts of sexual violence committed against women and children below the age of 15, as well as with adultery.
Articles 334 and 335:
Punish habitual incitement of a minor to debauchery, recruiting or abducting a minor or a woman and keeping them in a house of debauchery, forcing a woman or young girl into prostitution, keeping a clandestine house of prostitution, serving as an intermediary between persons engaging in prostitution or debauchery, and persons exploiting the prostitution and debauchery of others. The same applies to any gain or subsidy deriving from the prostitution of others or from cohabitation with a person engaging in prostitution and to habitual toleration of prostitution in a public place. The perpetrator of such acts, who has incited, encouraged or facilitated the offence or has attempted to incite, encourage or facilitate prostitution or exploitation of women and girls, is punished by six months to three years’ imprisonment as well as a fine of 18 000 to 1 800 000 francs. A heavier penalty is imposed if the perpetrator is the victim’s father, mother, guardian or direct ascendant. It is then raised to three to five years’ imprisonment plus a fine of 18 000 to 1 800 000 francs, and is accompanied by loss of parental authority where the perpetrator is the father or mother. The same penalties are applied where the perpetrator is a person having authority over the victim, her teacher, a paid servant of the victim or of the persons designated above, a public official or a minister of religion.
Articles 330 to 333
Provide for the punishment of any immoral act committed with or without the use of violence against a minor of either sex aged under 13. The penalty for this offence is imprisonment.
PENAL CODE 2018
Article 499
The recruitment, transport, transfer, accommodation, reception of persons, by the threat of recourse or the use of force or other forms of coercion, by kidnapping, fraud, deception, abuse of authority or a situation of vulnerability, or through and the acceptance of payments or benefits to obtain the consent of a person having authority over another, for the purposes of exploitation constitutes an act of trafficking in persons.
Exploitation includes at least the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or organ removal.
The consent of a victim of human trafficking to exploitation envisaged in paragraph 2 of this article is irrelevant where one any of the means set forth in the first paragraph of this article has been used.
The use by a parent or a guardian the services of a child under 14 years of age for lucrative purposes also constitutes a form of exploitation.
Article 500
Also constitutes an act of child trafficking the purpose of which is to dispose of the property, either free of charge or for a fee the freedom or the person of a child.
Article 501: Trafficking in Persons shall be punished by criminal imprisonment time from ten (10) years to (20) years.
Trafficking in persons is punishable by life imprisonment when it has resulted or is aimed at the removal of organs.
Article 502
Anyone who has entered into an agreement in the Republic of Benin for the purpose of alienating the freedom of a third person for a consideration, is punished by life imprisonment.
Money, goods and other objects or values received in execution of the agreement or as a deposit of a convention to intervene, are confiscated.
Article 503
Is punished with the same penalty the act of introducing, or attempting introduce in the Republic of Benin, individuals destined to be the subject of the practice mentioned in the previous article or to remove or attempt to remove individuals from the Republic of Benin in view of such an agreement to be entered into abroad.
Article 504
Legal persons for whose benefit or account an offense of trafficking in persons, sale of children, prostitution of children, child pornography or any of the offenses set out in this section has been committed by one of its agents or representatives, are punishable by a fine of five million (5,000,000) to one hundred million (100,000,000) CFA francs without prejudice to the award of damages. Legal persons may, in addition, be sentenced to one or several of the following sentences:
1- exclusion of public contracts, definitively or for a period of five (05) years at most;
2- the confiscation of the property that was used to commit or was intended to commit the offense or the property that is the product of the offense;
3- placement under judicial supervision for a maximum of five (05) years;
4- the prohibition, definitively, or for a period of five (05) years at the most, to exercise directly or indirectly one or more professional or social activities where the offense was committed;
5- the definitive closure or for a period of five (05) years at the most, establishments or one of the establishments used to commit the incriminated facts;
6- the dissolution, when they were created to commit the incriminated facts;
7- the posting of the decision pronounced or the diffusion of this one by the written press or by any means of audiovisual communication, at the expense of the affected legal person
LABOUR CODE
Article 3:
Forced labour is absolutely forbidden. Forced labour is a work or service required from an individual under menace of any punishment and for which he did not offer himself freely.
Article 303
Shall be punished by a fine of FCFA 140,000 to 350,000 and imprisonment for two months to a year, or one of these penalties: a) offenders with the provisions of Article 3 on the prohibition of forced labor.
LAW NO 2006-04 ACT RELATING TO THE TRANSPORTATION OF MINORS AND THE SUPPRESSION OF CHILD TRAFFICKING
Article 4
Exploitation comprises, without this enumeration being limiting: -All forms of slavery or analogous practices
Article 7
No child can be moved within the country, separated from their biological parents or the person having authority over him, without a special permit issued by the administrative authority competent in his place of residence unless the court or if specifically recommended by social services and health services. The procedures for issuing this authorization is determined by decree of the Council of Ministers.
Article 16
The parent who knowingly transported and / or handed her child to the trafficking of it or who helped in one way whatever the trafficker is liable to imprisonment for six (06) months to five (05) years.
Article 17
Anyone who has moved, or tried to move accompanied a child to a destination in the Republic of Benin outside the residence of his father and / or mother or the person who authority over him, without completing the paperwork required is punished imprisonment for one (01) year three (03) years and a fine of fifty thousand (50,000) francs rnille five hundred (500,000) francs.
Article 18
Anyone who has moved, or tried to move together outside the territory of the Republic of Benin, a child other than his own or a child which he has authority without completing the formalities administrative provisions shall be punished by imprisonment for two (02) years five (05) years and a fine of five hundred thousand (500,000) francs to two million five hundred thousand (2,500,000) francs.
Article 21
Anyone who has engaged in trafficking is punishable by imprisonment time of ten (10) to twenty (20) years. In all cases where child trafficking has occurred with use of a means listed in
Article 23 of this Act or when the victim has been submitted to any of the acts mentioned in Article 24 below, or the offenders are punishable by life imprisonment. The culprit is punished by imprisonment in life, if the child has not been found before delivery of the conviction or has been found dead.
Article 22
Whoever knowingly uses in the Republic of Benin, labor of a child from child trafficking, regardless the nature of the work, shall be punished by a fine of five hundred thousand (500,000) francs to five million (5,000,000) francs and imprisonment for six (06) months to twenty-four (24) months or one of these penalties.”
LAW NO 2011-26
Article 3 Forced Marriage
All marriages or concubinages contracted or decided without the free and informed consent of the two parties concerned.
Article 31
Any person who is guilty or complicit in a forced marriage or arranged or forced a concubinage, as defined in article 3 of the present law is punished by imprisonment from 1-3 years and a fine of 500,000 francs to 2,000,000 francs.
PENAL CODE OF BENIN 2018
SECTION II FORFAIT, CRIMES AND OFFENSES COMMITTED BY OFFICIALS PUBLIC IN THE EXERCISE OF THEIR DUTIES
PARAGRAPH XIV SOME OFFENSES RELATING TO THE KEEPING OF CIVIL STATUS ACTS
Article 377: When, for the validity of a marriage, the law prescribes the consent of the father, mother or other persons and that the registrar does not has not ensured the existence of this consent, he is punished by a fine of one hundred and fifty thousand (150,000) to three hundred and fifty thousand (350,000) CFA francs and imprisonment for at least six (06) months and at most one (01) year or one of his two sentences only.
SECTION I MURDER AND OTHER CAPITAL CRIMES, THREATS OF ATTACKS AGAINST PEOPLE
PARAGRAPH II TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
Article 499
The recruitment, transport, transfer, accommodation, reception of persons, by the threat of recourse or the use of force or other forms of coercion, by kidnapping, fraud, deception, abuse of authority or a situation of vulnerability, or through and the acceptance of payments or benefits to obtain the consent of a person having authority over another, for the purposes of exploitation constitutes an act of trafficking in persons.
Exploitation includes at least the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or organ removal.
The consent of a victim of human trafficking to exploitation envisaged in paragraph 2 of this article is irrelevant where one any of the means set forth in the first paragraph of this article has been used.
The use by a parent or a guardian the services of a child under 14 years of age for lucrative purposes also constitutes a form of exploitation.
Article 501: Trafficking in Persons shall be punished by criminal imprisonment time from ten (10) years to (20) years.
Trafficking in persons is punishable by life imprisonment when it has resulted or is aimed at the removal of organs.
SECTION VII CRIMES AND OFFENSES AGAINST CHILDREN, ABANDONMENT OF FAMILY OR ABANDONMENT OF THE MARITAL DOMICILE
PARAGRAPH I CRIMES AND OFFENSES COMMITTED AGAINST CHILDREN
Article 578: The preceding provisions do not prejudice the right resulting from parental authority, tutelary over minors as acts completed do not constitute temporary or definitive servitude of these minors for the benefit of third parties.
Those who, abusing the authority they have over said minors, have forced, in any way whatsoever, a minor, to take as a spouse someone whom he or she she does not wish are punished by imprisonment of three (03) years to ten (10) years and a fine triple the value of the dowry received if necessary without her being able to be less than five hundred thousand (500,000) CFA francs.
If the attempted forced marriage was preceded or followed by forcible confinement, violence or assault, the penalty will be that of criminal imprisonment in time five (05) years to ten (10) years.
If death has resulted, the culprits are punished with criminal imprisonment at perpetuity.
Article 601: Whoever, without fraud or violence, has kidnapped or misappropriated, or attempted to kidnap or divert a minor, is punished by imprisonment of two (02) years to five (05) years and a fine of one hundred thousand (100,000) to five hundred thousand (500,000) CFA francs.
When a minor thus abducted or diverted has married her captor, this one can only be pursued on the complaint of the people who are qualified to request the annulment of the marriage and can only be condemned after this cancellation was pronounced.
Penal Code 2018 – SHERLOC – French (PDF)
LAW NO 2011-26 ON THE PREVENTION AND PUNISHMENT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Article 2: Violence against women is defined, under the terms of this law, like all acts of violence directed against the female sex and causing or likely to cause harm or suffering to women physical, sexual or psychological including the threat of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether in life public or in private life.
The infringements concern:
- Physical or moral, sexual and psychological violence exerted within the family such as beatings, marital rape, assault and sexual assault, female genital mutilation such as provided for by Law 2003-03 of 03 March 2003 repressing the practice of female genital mutilation in the Republic of Benin, forced or arranged marriages, “honor” crimes and others traditional practices harmful to women.
- Physical or moral, sexual and psychological violence practiced in the community including rape, assault and sexual abuse, sexual harassment as provided for by law 2006-19 of 05 September 2006 on the repression of sexual harassment and protection of victims in the Republic of Benin and intimidation at work, in educational institutions and other places, the pimping, trafficking, forced prostitution.
Under this law, are also considered as violence made to women, the fact, for a medical agent, paramedical, of not bring to a woman during childbirth, all the diligence required, or to refrain from performing their professional duty.
Article 3
In this law, we mean by:
[..]
forced marriage: any marriage or cohabitation contracted or decided without the free and informed consent of both parties involved
[..]
Article 31: Anyone who is guilty or complicit in a marriage forced or arranged or forced cohabitation, as defined in article 3 of the this law is punishable by imprisonment of one (01) year to three (03) years and a fine of five hundred thousand (500,000) francs to two million (2,000,000) of francs.
Anyone who is involved in the planning and / or the execution of such a marriage or cohabitation is also guilty.
FAMILY CODE 2002
Article 119: Each of the future spouses, even a minor, must personally consent to the wedding.
Article 120: A minor under the age of eighteen (18) cannot enter into marriage without consent of the person exercising parental authority over him. This consent must include the designation of the two future spouses. It is given either by the declaration made before a civil status officer or before a notary prior to the celebration of the marriage, either validly during the celebration itself.
Article 121: Any parent may apply to the judge of the place of celebration of the marriage if he considers that the refusal of consent is based on reasons not in accordance with the interests of the minor. After having duly summoned within the postponement period the person who refuses his consent, the by whom it has been seized and any other person whose hearing it deems useful, the judge may rule by order. This is not susceptible to legal remedies to maintain the opposition or to otherwise authorize the celebration of marriage. The procedure takes place in the judge’s office, in non-public hearing, even for the issuance of the order.
Article 123: Marriage can only be contracted between a man aged at least eighteen (18) years old and a woman at least eighteen (18) years old, except exemption of age granted for serious reason by order of the president of the court of first instance at the request of the ministry public.
Article 144: The nullity of marriage can only be pronounced by court decision. The nullity can be absolute or relative.
Both spouses must be involved regardless of who brings the action.
The nullity of the marriage certificate for defect of form cannot be requested when the interested parties enjoy the possession of the status of legitimate spouses.
Article 145: The relative nullity of the marriage celebrated by the registrar may be pronounced:
– for lack of consent of one of the spouses if his agreement was obtained by violence or given as a result of an error;
– for lack of parental authorization, for minors;
– for helplessness of the husband not revealed beforehand;
– for serious and incurable illness concealed at the time of marriage by a spouse, which, harming the other spouse, makes cohabitation intolerable.
Article 146: The nullity action belongs to:
– to that of the spouses whose consent has been vitiated;
– in the event of lack of parental authorization, to the person whose consent was required or to the spouse who needed this consent;
– to the wife, in the event of the helplessness of the husband not revealed beforehand;
– to the spouse of the spouse suffering from a serious and incurable disease, concealed at the time of wedding.
Article 147: However, the action for nullity ceases to be admissible:
– for defect of consent, when there has been cohabitation for six (6) months since the husband has acquired his full freedom or that the error has been recognized by him;
– for lack of parental authorization, when the marriage has been expressly approved or tacitly by the person whose consent was necessary or when the latter, before the majority of the husband, allowed a year to pass without exercising the action when he was aware of the marriage, or finally if the husband has reached nineteen (19) years of age without having made a complaint;
– in case of the helplessness of the husband not revealed or concealment of the serious illness or incurable of one of the spouses, when the cohabitation has continued for more than a year.
Article 148: The nullity of the marriage must be pronounced:
– when it was contracted without the consent of one of the spouses;
– when the spouses are not of different sexes;
– when one of the spouses was not of the required age in the absence of an exemption;
– when there is a relationship or alliance between the spouses that prohibits marriage;
– when one of the spouses was in the bonds of a previous undissolved union.
Article 149: The action for nullity based on the provisions of the preceding article may be exercised by:
– the spouses themselves;
– anyone who has an interest in it. However, parents who have expressly authorized or tacitly marriage are not justified in claiming nullity for lack of required age;
– the public prosecutor, during the lifetime of both spouses.
It is imprescriptible.
If one of the spouses opposes the nullity of a first marriage, the validity or nullity of this marriage must be judged beforehand, after questioning by the other spouse of the first union.
If the first marriage is deemed valid, the second is declared void.
When one of the spouses was not of the required age, the nullity cannot be invoked after he reached this age or when the woman conceived.
In any other case, the invalidity cannot be covered.