UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 121) A number of convictions for sexual violence against women and girls have been handed down under the new Criminal Code. Between 2016 and June 2019, 228 people were convicted of such acts. In June 2021, 18 cases of paedophilia, 16 cases of rape and 1 case of incest were tried.
Para 126) The following measures have been taken to improve access to justice for children in Togo: … • Provision of care to 3,178 children, of whom 2,372 were girls who had been subjected to violence.
Para 132) The new Criminal Code prohibits gender-based violence, including rape, female genital mutilation and forced marriage.
Para 133) Action is taken within the framework of the National Strategy to Combat Gender-based Violence and various sector-specific programmes that include measures to encourage women to report cases of violence, to ensure that perpetrators and accomplices are brought to justice, to protect victims of violence, to provide legal remedies and to facilitate the reintegration of victims.
Para 134) Advocacy and awareness-raising activities are also carried out.
Para 135) Support is provided to victims of violence in various ways: • Psychosocial support in the form of counselling and ongoing care is provided to victims at home and in counselling centres. • Victims are referred to health centres and other services, such as the police, courts and legal advice centres. • Victims are provided with financial support for the development of income-generating activities. • In 2019, the Group for Policy and Action, Women, Democracy and Development set up an online system for reporting violence against women, with the aim of preventing gender-based violence and providing legal assistance to victims.

UN Compilation:
Para 40) The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, noted that … Many women and girls were also subjected to sexual and gender-based violence.
Para 41) The United Nations country team highlighted the persistence of discriminatory practices, including with regard to inheritance rights, as well as of gender-based discrimination and violence. This observation supported the conclusion reached by the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, who stressed that many women and girls were also subjected to sexual and gender-based violence.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 44) Femme Plus Togo noted that many women experience domestic and sexual violence throughout their lives. Vulnerable groups, such as girls who have not finished school, working women, female trainees and persons with disabilities, are also exposed to this form of violence. The institutions responsible for prevention, punishment and assistance do not always provide an effective response when cases are brought before them. Female victims have a real problem gaining access to justice and receiving appropriate assistance. Given the lack of an official mechanism to protect victims and society’s accusatory attitudes, victims are reluctant to report cases and file complaints. Most of the victims who have had the courage to go to court end up retracting their statements because of pressure from their families and threats from their abusers. In such situations, judges tend to drop the case and facilitate a financial arrangement between the perpetrator and victim, in violation of the criminal law in force.