2023-09-04 22:14:23
Every September 4, World Sexual Health Day is celebrated. Consent is the theme chosen for the 2023 edition. Often defined as a mutual “yes”, consent, in terms of sexual health, is much more than a simple agreement and goes far beyond.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines sexual health as “a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being associated with sexuality”. Consent comes into play when it comes to sexual health when it comes to healthy and respectful sexual relationships. This implies that all parties engaged in sexual activity do so voluntarily.
Lack of consent leads to sexual violence
When a sexual act occurs under duress, fear, or without the consent of everyone involved, it may qualify as sexual assault, rape, or sexual harassment. This violence which affects the physical and psychological integrity of the victim is punishable by law.
In Benin, in 2021, the legislator took new measures to punish these offenses and protect the victims. Law n° 2021-11 of December 20, 2021 in its new article 553, provides that:
”Any act of sexual penetration committed on the person of another, outside his will and in particular by violence, constraint, threat or surprise, is a rape. Rape is punishable by criminal imprisonment of five (5) to ten (10) years, as well as a fine ranging from five hundred thousand (500,000) to two million (2,000,000) CFA francs”.
Article 553 new of the law laying down special provisions for the repression of offenses committed on the basis of a person’s sex and the protection of women in the Republic of Benin.
For minor victims, under the age of thirteen and regardless of the age difference between the adult perpetrator and the minor, the law provides for an even more severe penalty. “When the rape is committed on a minor under the age of thirteen 13, he is punished with life imprisonment. rape will be punished by criminal imprisonment of ten (10) to twenty (20) years and a fine of one million (1,000,000) to five million (5,000,000) CFA francs, when it has been committed on a minor over the age of 13”.
Socio-cultural realities, barriers to consent
In Benin, taboos and myths around sexuality are barriers to fulfilling sexuality. Stereotypes can influence partners’ understanding of consent, as Dr. Herman Azanmasso, neuro-sexologist observes:
”Our society has taught the young woman to say ‘no’ first, not to say ‘yes’; culture has taught her that the woman must say ‘no’ first, otherwise she is devalued and she is easily rejected by the man (…). This strategy, which is also known to humans, causes consent to be biased. We have to go into the strategy that allows the woman to say ‘yes’ when she wants to and to say ‘no’ when she doesn’t want to.”
However, according to legal scholars, a variety of circumstances can prevent a person from giving consent, including being unconscious, being under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or not having the mental capacity to consent.
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Fulgencia Hountondji
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