The National Union of Media Professionals of Benin (UPMB), in collaboration with UNESCO, organized a training workshop on August 14-15, 2023, focusing on mechanisms for detecting, reporting, and addressing sexual harassment in the media in Benin.
Over fifty female journalists were equipped with knowledge about sexual harassment in the professional context, particularly within the media sector, on August 14 and 15, 2023. This initiative, led by the National Union of Media Professionals of Benin (UPMB) and UNESCO, is part of the project “Media without Sexual Harassment in Benin.” The workshop featured two presentations on different forms of sexual harassment, the practice of this phenomenon in the media, and strategies to combat sexual harassment within the media.
According to Zakiath Latoundji, President of the National Union of Media Professionals of Benin (UPMB), the objective is to help women in the media work peacefully, creating a tranquil and secure work environment where individuals can thrive without fear of sexual harassment or any form of violence.
“We expect women to be well-equipped, to receive training that will help them be more comfortable in practicing their profession, in their editorial work, across different media outlets, transforming each woman into an advocate against gender-based violence in general, and sexual harassment in particular,” she explained.
Detection and Reporting Mechanisms Ahouéfa Françoise Sossou Agbaholou, a consulting lawyer and national coordinator of the Women in Law and Development in Africa (Wildaf Benin) network, clarified that in Benin, sexual harassment is considered an offense based on sex, as stipulated in Article 1 of Law No. 2021-11 of December 20, 2021, which provides special provisions for the prosecution of offenses committed based on sex, as well as for the protection of women in the Republic of Benin.
She explained that this law already reveals the mechanisms for detecting sexual harassment. Thus, “Sexual harassment, according to this law, consists of someone giving orders, using words, gestures, writings, messages, and repeatedly, uttering threats, imposing constraints, exerting pressures, or using any other means to obtain from a person in a vulnerable or subordinate position, sexual favors for their own benefit or for the benefit of a third party.”
Ahouéfa Françoise Sossou Agbaholou clarified that sexual harassment must be distinguished from a romantic relationship, flirting, or seduction based on mutual respect, reciprocity, and equality.
Sanctions, Remedies, and Protection Measures The second presentation, titled “Repression of Sexual Harassment in Benin: What the Laws Say,” was delivered by Maître Prisca Layo Ogoubi, a lawyer and advocate at the Bar Association of Benin. In her talk, she covered the elements of sexual harassment in the professional context, the criminal penalties, available remedies, and protection measures for victims and witnesses.
She first reminded that Article 550 of Law No. 2021-11 of December 20, 2021, provides for a prison sentence of one to two years and a fine of five hundred thousand CFA francs to ten million CFA francs or one of these penalties alone. She noted that the same law stipulates that in case of recurrence, the penalty is doubled.
Prohibition of Dismissing a Victim Generally, in a given work situation, the phenomenon of sexual harassment, once initiated, may lead to the progressive exclusion of the victim from the job market if no action is taken to interrupt the violent behaviors it generates.
However, the 2006 law against gender-based violence (GBV) addresses this issue, which affects various sectors and professions, and prevents victims from reporting. The law prohibits promoters and/or employers from sanctioning, dismissing, or terminating the employment contract of the victim or witnesses. It also prohibits considering the actions suffered or reported when making decisions related to hiring, remuneration, training, assignment, qualification, reclassification, promotion, transfer, termination of employment contracts, or disciplinary sanctions (Article 8 of the 2006 law).
The law also allows victims of sexual harassment the opportunity to be represented by trade unions and any association with legal personality, approved by the competent authority and with the aim of defending gender equality, even without demonstrating a material interest, and even if the collective interest for which they act coincides with the social interest, which is safeguarded by the public prosecutor (Article 14 of the 2006 law).
Zakiath Latoundji, President of the National Union of Media Professionals of Benin (UPMB), took the opportunity to announce the establishment, with the support of the Embassy of the Netherlands, of a legal and psychological assistance unit for media professionals, both men and women, who are victims of gender-based violence.
At the end of the northern phase of the workshop, which will take place in the coming days, women in the media will be invited to provide testimonies anonymously on cases of sexual harassment they have experienced.
