UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 66) Togo has 1,139 registry offices staffed by 1,408 persons. The vast majority of these offices are located in cantons and villages and in health centres, the aim being to bring civil registration services closer to users. By Decree No. 2018-132/PR of 28 August 2018 on the reform of the civil registration system, the Government established a technical committee on civil registration with a view to providing all Togolese persons with birth certificates.
Para 67) During a meeting of the Council of Ministers on 15 September 2021, the Minister responsible for territorial administration was instructed by the Government to continue carrying out evaluations in order to determine the practical arrangements that should be made to ensure that civil status certificates are universally available free of charge.
Para 68) The State and its partners organize activities to raise awareness of the importance of birth registration on a regular basis.

UN Compilation:
Para 45) The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences noted that despite the Government’s efforts to ensure that all children were duly registered at birth, only 40.9 per cent of children under 5 years of age had a birth certificate. That significantly exposed them to the risk of becoming victims of child labour, child marriage and other forms of exploitation, as children without birth certificates were generally more vulnerable to human rights violations and experienced disproportionate limitations in accessing their rights.

National Report:
Para 33) There is a legal framework (comprising the Constitution, the new Criminal Code, the Persons and Family Code and the Children’s Code) that protects against harmful cultural practices such as child marriage, female genital mutilation, levirate marriage and sororate marriage.
Para 117) Measures taken to combat child marriage include the implementation of the National Programme to Prevent Adolescent Pregnancies and Child Marriage in School and Out-of School Settings between 2015 and 2019.
Para 118) Efforts are made to involve traditional and religious leaders in the fight against practices that are harmful to children, in order to achieve lasting results.
Para 119) The practice of female genital mutilation is becoming less and less common. According to the 2013–2014 demographic and health survey and the 2017 multiple indicator cluster survey, the rate of female genital mutilation fell from 5 to 3.1 per cent among women aged 15 to 49 years and from 1 to 0.3 per cent among children up to 14 years old, between 2014 and 2017.
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 122) The minimum age for marriage is 18 years (Children’s Code, art. 267). Article 268 of the Persons and Family Code prohibits parents and guardians from promising children in marriage.
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 … Child marriage remained a worrying problem, disproportionately affecting girls despite the efforts of the Government and of traditional and religious leaders.
Para 41) … Child marriage remained a worrying problem, disproportionately affecting girls despite the efforts of the Government and of traditional and religious leaders.

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.
Para 45) The European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) noted that, despite the law banning FGM, its prevalence within ethnic groups remains high. These groups often reside in rural and remote areas of the country where enforcement of the law is lacking. Additionally, FGM is engrained in Togo’s society, and many ethnic groups choose custom over modern law.