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 AFROL
Gender Profiles:
Togo
The small West African republic of Togo remains among the poorest
of the region, with its heavy dependence on agricultural export
products. Rural life remains predominant, and traditions prevail.
Togo experiencies one of the harshest human rights environments in Africa,
with extrajudicial killings reported on several occasions. Under this "reign
of terror" as it has been called by Amnesty International, true reforms in
the rights situation of women are not to be expected, although the legislation
is under positive development.
Despite of constitutional prohibition, educational and inherital
discrimination of women continues as a consequence of traditional law. Violence against women, especially wife beating is common. The
police rarely intervene in domestic violence cases. Female Genital Mutilation continues to be practiced.
Each woman
averagely gives birth to 5,5 children (2000 est).
Social data
Life expectancy: Total population: 54,69 years
male: 52,75 years
female: 56,7 years (2000 est.)
Alphabetization rate: Total population: 51,7%
male: 67%
female: 37% (1995 est.)
Medical services: 16.666 persons per doctor.
Sex ratio: at birth: 1,03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1,01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0,95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0,78 male(s)/female
total population: 0,97 male(s)/female (2000 est.)
Religious data: Muslim 9%, traditional African religions
57,02%, Christian 33,98%
Family and tradition
Despite a constitutional declaration of equality under the law, women continue to experience discrimination, especially in education, pension benefits, inheritance, and as a consequence of traditional law. A husband legally may restrict his wife's freedom to work or control her earnings. The Government requires a married woman to get her husband's permission to apply for a passport. In urban areas, women and girls dominate market activities and commerce. However, harsh economic conditions in rural areas, where most of the population lives, leave women with little time for activities other than domestic and agricultural fieldwork. Under traditional law, which applies to the vast majority of women, a wife has no maintenance rights in the event of divorce or separation and no inheritance rights on the death of her husband.
There is a Ministry of Feminine Promotion and Social Protection, which, along with independent women's groups and related NGO's, campaigns actively to inform women of their rights.
Some ethnic groups practice Female Genital Mutilation and among these, rates
range from 40 to 98 %.
Orphans and other needy children receive some aid from extended families or private organizations but less from the State. There are few juvenile courts, and children are jailed with adults. In rural areas, traditionally the best food is reserved for adults, principally the father.
Gender sensitivity in society
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of ethnic group, regional or family origin, sex, religion, social or economic status, or personal, political, or other convictions. However, the Government does not provide effective redress for discrimination complaints.
Although the law protects children, there are many practices that point to a pattern of discrimination against children, especially girls. In education, about 61 percent of children 6 to 15 years of age attend school, mostly boys. Of the total 6 to 15 age group, about 89 percent of the boys and 66 percent of the girls start primary school; about 39 percent of the boys and 13 percent of the girls reach secondary school; about 3 percent of the boys and 0.6 percent of the girls reach university level. Literacy rates are 57 percent for adult men and 31 percent for adult women. About one-third of the national budget is spent on education.
Health data
Access to potable water: 55%
Medical services: 16.666 persons per doctor
Maternal mortality rate: 640/100.000
Infant mortality: 71,55 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM): 12% of females undergo this
procedure.
Female genital mutilation, which is widely condemned by international health experts as damaging to both physical and psychological health, continues to be practiced. Approximately 12 percent of all girls and women have undergone FGM. Most of the larger ethnic groups do not practice FGM. However, among the practicing groups rates range from 40 to 98 percent. In theory women and girls are protected by the Constitution from FGM, and in 1998 the Government enacted a law prohibiting the practice. However, by year's end, the Government had not brought any cases to court. Traditional customs often supersede the legal systems among certain ethnic groups. The Government continued to sponsor seminars to educate and campaign against FGM.
Violence against women
Violence against women continues to be a problem. Although mechanisms for redress exist within both the traditional extended family and formal judicial structures, the police rarely intervene in domestic violence cases. Wife beating has been estimated to affect an estimated 10 percent of married women. There is some trafficking in young women for the purpose of forced prostitution or for forced labor as domestic servants, but the Government reportedly exercised more vigilance at border crossings to counter such trafficking.
The Government has acknowledged the international trafficking of children, particularly girls, who are sold into various forms of indentured and exploitative servitude, which amounts at times to slavery. This traffic often results in the children being taken to other West and Central African countries, especially Gabon and Nigeria, to the Middle East, or to Asia.
Main sources: U.S. Department of State, CIA,
UN, HRW, Mundo negro
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