Social media messages, late-night calls and meetings, so-called ‘private’ training sessions,
frequently aggressive and suggestive glances, raids in female changing rooms…These are some
of the methods some actors in the Beninois sports world employ in trying to obtain sexual
favours from those who only want one thing: to achieve their professional dreams. Today, many
sportswomen face the problem of sexual harassment. Certain supervisors or managers never fail
to use their positions of power to influence and disturb the morals of young girls.
Aux termes des dispositions de l’article 1er de la loi n°2021-11 du 20 décembre 2021 portant
disposition spéciales de répression des infractions commises à raison du sexe des personnes et
protection de la femme en République du Bénin article 548 nouveau : « Constitue un
harcèlement sexuel, le fait pour une personne de donner des ordres, d’user de paroles, de gestes,
d’écrits, de messages, et ce, de façon répétée, de proférer des menaces, d’imposer des
contraintes, d’exercer des pressions ou d’utiliser tout autre moyen aux fins d’obtenir d’une
personne en situation de vulnérabilité, de subordination ou en situation de demande d’un emploi
ou d’un service public, des faveurs de nature sexuelle à son profit ou au profit d’un tiers, sans le
consentement de la personne harcelée ».
Under the provisions of Article 1 of Law No.2021-11 of December 20th, 2021, containing
special provisions on the repression of infractions committed on the basis of sex, and the
protection of women in the Republic of Bénin, new article 548 states: “It consitutes sexual
harassment when a person gives orders, uses words, gestures, text, messages, and so on
repeatedly, threatening, imposing constraints, exerting pressure or using any other means to
cause a person in a position of vulnerability, suborbdination or in a situation in which said
person is seeking employment or a public service, to provide sexual favours for their benefit or
the benefit of a third party, without the consent of said person being harrassed.”
This practice, defined by Beninese legislators, is, according to several sources, prevalent in
Bénin’s sports world. Ida Azonsou, Béninoise international footballer and Congolese
championship player, reveals, “The issue of sexual harassment in the sports world and especially
in women’s football is a common sight, since most of the female football clubs are managed by
men. There are always managers with bad intentions in the industry.” For the Secretary General
of the Beninese Federation of Football, Claude Pqui, “Sexual harassment in football in Bénin is
unrecorded.” He adds, “I would not say it doesn’t exist, but it is still unofficial.”
The fact that the governing body of Beninese football has not yet received official complaints
from victimised players can not serve as proof of the inexistence of this practice in the industry.
“[…] There were ties created in order to be in the national team […].”
Comme en football, la pratique semble exister dans bien d’autres disciplines sportives. Dans une
publication datant du 19 juillet 2022 sur sa page Facebook, la volleyeuse internationale béninoise
de Niort en France, Floriane Armelle Amegnanglo, dénonçant certains faits au niveau de la
Fédération béninoise de volley-ball, écrivait : « Finis les violences faites aux jeunes filles pour
avoir une place en sélection. […] Jeune fille sportive, ta présélection ou ta sélection ne se fera
pas par un lever de jambe ».
Just like in football, the practice seems to also exist in many other sports disciplines. In a
publication dated 19th July 2022, on her Facebook page, Floriane Armelle Amegnanglo,
international Beninese volleyball player of Niort in France, wrote denouncing certain
occurrences at the level of the Benin Federation of Volleyball: “End the violence against young
girls to get a place on the team. […] Young female athletes, your preselection or your selection
does not come from lifting your legs.”
These declarations from the young professional are indicative of the practice’s existence within
her sports community in Bénin. Later, she confides, “I was a player on the national team at 16
years old. I was the youngest, at that time, there were no such things and over time as things
evolved and the team no longer had the same heads, there were ties created in order to be able
to be on the national team”. Speaking on the national volley-ball team she played for, she
affirmed: “The men close to the team harass the girls on the national team. These are things that
I have experienced, not personally, but I was aware of because I was on the team. I have seen
these practices. I have seen how it happened.”. This sportswoman says she is now committed to
encouraging girls who are victims of harassment in the Beninese sports industry to break their
silence.
Une ancienne capitaine de l’équipe nationale de volleyball, aujourd’hui journaliste et membre
d’une Fédération, laisse entendre que la pratique ne date pas d’aujourd’hui. « Le harcèlement
sexuel dans le milieu sportif n’est pas une nouvelle pratique. Cela existe depuis bien longtemps.
Peu importe la discipline, les filles ont toujours vécu cette pratique, que ce soit avec les
dirigeants ou les sportifs hommes, il y a toujours eu ce désir d’obtenir des faveurs chez elle »,
fit-elle savoir. Parlant d’elle, elle raconte sans nommer ses bourreaux comment elle a vécu
pendant une période la pression de certains responsables
An old captain of the national volleyball team, now a journalist and member of the Federation,
suggests the practice did not begin in recent times. “The sexual harassment in the sports world is
not new. It has existed for a long time. It doesn’t matter the sport, the girls always experience
this, whether with the managers or sportsmen, there has always been a desire to obtain sexual
favours from them.” She said ,“ ‘I like you a lot. Do you want to grab a drink on the weekend
after the game?’ I have been harassed during my time on the national volleyball team between
2005 and 2007, by people who were in decision-making positions and others who were just
players like me, but who had ties with the managers. In that moment, the federation backed me.
Personally, the president of the Béninoise Federation of Volleyball was informed about
everything I was going through; this made it easier to recount the incidents to him, sometimes
even stating their identities. How did he manage? I can’t say, but he always insisted, saying: “As
long as I do not have the person’s name on the list, there is no reason for you to have permission
so you can travel”. To put an end to this suffering, some girls make the decision to quit their
sporting careers. Speaking out is still not the preferred option for victims.
The Silence of Victims
Between the fear of rejection from their sports community and the shame of being subjected to
insults, victims of sexual harassment in the Beninese sports world prefer to stay silent. The
Secretary General of the Béninoise Federation of Football, Claude Paque, states that “there has
never been any complaints for officials responsible to look into.” The absence of complaints
from victims is therefore the reason why the issue isn’t taken seriously by the judiciary.
Why then this Silence from the Victims ?
Beninese journalist, authour of the book ‘Break the Silence’ and president of the NGO ‘Fear
Not’, Angela Kpeidja who is renowned for denouncing sexual agression comitted in her
professional field, points out that “in our country, it is not an honour for a woman to say she has
been harrassed or raped, because usually, as soon as you say it, the fault is yours. […] in
addition to the suffering that harrassment causes, so as not to be blamed, the girls prefer to
remain silent”.
According to certain sources, not reporting could be explained by the player’s desire not to
destroy their dream, as one footballer who preferred to remain anonymous said, “It is difficult
when you are in the middle of things to speak. You tell yourself ‘I have a dream of becoming a
professional footballer’ and when you have a dream, you tell yourself ‘I deal with it and keep
moving.’”
“It is going to be complicated for young girls to speak out. There are victims among them, but
they are quiet. They are wedged into a corner. They can not say it”, acknowledges Floriane
Armelle Amegnanglo, inviting each and every one to speak, she says: “Do not wait to turn forty
or sixty before speaking out. It is now that you must do it, this is the moment to speak so it ends.”
Solutions to Combat the Evil
To fight this enduring issue, strategies must be put in place not only at the level of the
Federations, but also within the organisations that defend human rights, and at the level of the
state, the first of which is the Ministry of Sports and the National Institute of Women.
“Today, there are no frameworks to hear out these victimised girls. Neither at the club level nor
at the federations do they have anyone to receive their complaints and fight for them,” said
Hermione Ligan, member of the Federation of Beninese Badminton. She believes that “the
establishment of frameworks for listening is important at each level of the federation,” but these
structures must be the kind that become wolves that the girls throw themselves at in trying to be
heard. Besides the implementation of frameworks for listening to victims, Floraine Armelle
Amegnanglo also suggests that sharing experiences could be one solution.
Translated by Esohe Ewaenosa Iyare