Women's Rights in Benin (Part II)

Today I was recruited to present on sexual harassment and teen pregnancy at a middle school event on Thursday. That invitation is the perfect segue into some of the other women's rights issues I wanted to describe on this blog.

Here are a few more examples of how women's rights differ by law and in practice:

Sexual Harassment

By law:

Sexual harassment is forbidden under Beninese law. However, it is only recognized in the case of a hierarchical difference (teacher and student, boss and employee, etc). Under Beninese law, there is no such thing as sexual harassment of your equal (eg, between colleagues) because it is considered normal behavior. Furthermore, Beninese law considers that only men can be perpetrators and only women can be victims of sexual harassment.

In practice:

Sexual harassment is rampant and generally tolerated. Even if a sexual harassment case was brought before the courts, the burden of proof required is so high that prosecution is nearly impossible. In any case, few Beninese women would dare make an official complaint about sexual harassment.

A common example of sexual harassment is between male teachers and female students in middle schools. Many teachers pressure their female students to have sex with them, sometimes even threatening to lower their grades if they refuse. It is not uncommon for a female student to drop out of school because she has been impregnated by a teacher. I have even observed a 5^th grade teacher asking four of his female students to kiss him.

Middle school teachers, however, complain that their female students encourage their teachers to sleep with them by wearing tight clothing, batting their eyes, and coming to their houses after dark. The middle school even has a wall mural (financed by the Netherlands) to tell female students not to tempt their teachers. There is no wall mural to tell teachers not to sleep with their students.

Rape

By law:

Any non-consensual sex is considered rape, even within a marriage. Beninese law only recognizes rape when the woman is the victim and the man is the perpetrator. All sex when the woman is under 18 is considered rape, even if her sexual partner is also a minor. Penalties are more severe for rape when the victim is under the age of 16.

In practice:

It is widely accepted that nearly all girls in Sonsoro have sex before age 18 (often for financial reasons), so technically, nearly every Sonsoro girl has been raped. When my colleague consummated his marriage with his 17-year-old wife, according to Beninese law, he was raping her.

The typical Beninese person, male or female, does not believe there is such a thing as marital rape. It is considered an obligation of marriage that the wife will have sex with her husband whenever he wants it, whether or not she does. When I attended my host sister's wedding in Dangbo, the pastor even endorsed marital rape, advising the new couple that one of the secrets to a happy marriage was to never refuse sex to your spouse.