PRESS RELEASE

The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) expresses its concern
regarding violence against women in Togo at the Seventy-Sixth Session
of the UN Human Rights Committee

Geneva, 21 October 2002

The UN Human Rights Committee will today begin its examination of the
implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights in Togo. In its alternative country report entitled "Violence
against Women in Togo", which has been submitted to the Committee,
the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) expresses its grave
concern at the widespread violence against women in the private and
community spheres as well as at the hands of State officials.

Despite guarantees of equality in Togo's Constitution and its
ratification of international and regional human rights instruments
which prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, the subordination
of women and girls continues to be part of both law and socio-
cultural practices that are based upon male dominance. Women and
girls are subjected to discrimination in the family, community and
State spheres and this discrimination is perpetuated and condoned in
legislation and by social customs. For example, the Personal and
Family Code of Togo makes provision for polygamous marriage,
specifies that girls may be married at 17 while the age of marriage
for men is 20, entrenches men as heads of household and defines the
husband as the administrator of common property of the spouses.

Domestic violence including battering and marital rape are serious
problems in Togo, however, as a result of a combination of different
social, economic and legal factors, many women are either unwilling
or unable to report this violence. There is no specific legislation
for the prevention and punishment of domestic violence and the police
are reportedly ill-equipped to handle complaints of family violence.
Domestic violence continues to be regarded as a "private affair" by
most law enforcement personnel and members of the judiciary who
generally urge women to take steps to reconcile with their abusers
rather than lodging official complaints.

Women and girls in Togo are also subjected to a number of violent
cultural practices in the family including; early and forced
marriages, dowry-related violence, female
genital mutilation and widowhood rituals. While government and NGO
action have been reasonably effective in raising awareness of the
harmful nature of female genital
mutilation in most parts of the country, other violent cultural
practices persist and few steps have been taken to eliminate these.

Conditions of detention for women in Togo do not meet minimum
international standards and OMCT is deeply concerned by reports that
women are subjected to torture and
inhuman and degrading treatment whilst in police custody, prisons and
other places of detention. Of particular concern is the fact that
there is widespread impunity for the
perpetrators of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment and that
this impunity is reinforced by the failure of the government to amend
the Criminal Code in order to
create a criminal offence of torture and to provide appropriate
sanctions for those found guilty. In addition, the fact that women in
detention are routinely supervised by male
wardens renders them particularly vulnerable to violence, including
rape and sexual assault, whilst in detention.

Overall, OMCT's report concludes that while Togo has a duty under
international law to act with due diligence to prevent, investigate,
prosecute and punish all forms of violence against women,
irrespective of whether this violence is committed by public or
private individuals, this obligation has not been adequately
implemented at the national level.

For copies of the alternative report on violence against women in
Togo or for further information on OMCT's programme on Violence
against Women please contact Joanna Bourke-Martignoni on + 41 22 809
4939 or [email protected].
Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT)
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura (OMCT)
8 rue du Vieux-Billard
Case postale 21
CH-1211 Geneve 8
Suisse/Switzerland
Tel. : 0041 22 809 49 39
Fax : 0041 22 809 49 29
E-mail : [email protected]
http://www.omct.org