Children's rights

Law no. 59/2008 of September 10, 2008 on the Prevention and Punishment of Gender-Based Violence

The Parliament enacted this law as a response to a study ordered by government ministers that revealed that 69% of women in Benin had been the victim of some form of gender-based violence at least once in their lives. The law seeks to tackle and abolish all forms of violence against women and girls in the Republic of Benin. The law has a wide scope and adopts a very broad definition of violence that includes physical, sexual, moral, psychological, and economic violence, and any threats of such violence, both in the public and domestic domain.

When the applicant was four years old, her mother requested that she be examined by psychologists as the mother suspected the applicant’s father of sexual abuse. Psychologists concluded that the applicant exhibited symptoms of Child Abuse and Neglect (CAN) syndrome. Based on this report, the mother lodged a criminal complaint for sexual abuse against the father. Another psychological expert produced an opinion, which found that the applicant showed no signs of sexual abuse. The criminal prosecution was discontinued.

The appellant was the maternal grandfather of two minor children (the subject of the application). The appellant was appealing a decision of the trial court which ordered that the children be placed the custody of their biological father (the respondent). The children stayed with the appellant for a period of time while the respondent pursued his education in South Africa. Upon the respondent’s return, he fetched the children from the applicant’s residence.

The Maintenance Act (the “Act”) imposes equal rights and burdens in relation to the payment of child support (and enforcement of child support orders) on both parents and abolishes customary laws to the contrary. The Act also states that husbands and wives are equally responsible for each other’s maintenance.

The Marriage Act was amended in 2001 to make it illegal for any person under the age of 18 to marry. In accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the amendment stipulates that no minor below the age of 21 years may marry without the consent of parents or a legal guardian. The amendment provided for the registration of Customary, Muslim, Hindu, and other religious marriages.

Under Art. 75, both parents exercise parental authority equally, meaning that all issues regarding the forms and methods of upbringing, education, religion, organization of free time among other child-rearing matters, require mutual agreement.  Disagreements between parents on raising children are resolved in the courts. 

The plaintiff-appellants’ sons were members of their middle school basketball team who were victims of sexual harassment by their teammates. The harassment ranged from arguably innocent locker room pranks to sexual violence. The plaintiffs sued the Wayne County Board of Education, alleging that the school board was deliberately indifferent to student-on-student sexual harassment in violation of Title IX of the Civil Rights Act. The District Court denied the defendant’s motion for judgment as a matter of law and awarded the plaintiffs $100,000 each in damages.

The Matrimonial Causes Act governs marriages, dissolution of marriage, and custody of children. According to Section 5(d) a marriage is voidable if at the time of marriage “the wife is pregnant by a person other than the husband.” However, by Section 35(c), only the husband can nullify the marriage because of pregnancy; the wife has no right to petition to do so. Under Section 47, both husband and wife have grounds for a decree of restitution of conjugal rights, if either refuse to cohabitate with and render conjugal rights to the other.