Children in conflict with the law: beninese juvenile justice facing its limits
In Benin, children arrested are often more victims than guilty of a juvenile system at the end of its rope. 95% of incarcerated minors are boys, and 97% of these children are in pre-trial detention, although the legislation requires priority extrajudicial measures. Data from 2023 at the Cotonou Prison reveal that 2.24% of offenders in detention are minors.
These young people mostly come from disadvantaged backgrounds, often out of school or from single-parent families. Many have not even finished primary school. They live in contexts marked by family violence, alcoholism, poverty, which expose children to irregular behaviors from an early age.
Psychologically, early incarceration generates anxiety, depression, behavioral disorders and hinders the construction of their identity. The spiral of delinquency, well documented in criminology, shows how a toxic environment and the association of deviant peers nourish recidivism.
Legal framework, innovative laws, broken practice…
The Beninese legal framework in juvenile justice was enriched with the 1969 ordinance, the ratification of the CRC, the African charters, and the reform in 2019 to strengthen alternatives to incarceration. The lack of appropriate structures, training for actors and financial resources compromises the application of these laws.
The Childhood without Bars program promotes restorative justice, focusing on mediation and alternatives to detention. In Cotonou, a seminar last September brought together magistrates and NGOs to disseminate practices of criminal and family mediation. The Brigade for the Protection of Minors, created in 1983, remains the only specialized service, but often lacks staff and means to act effectively.
UNICEF recalls the imperative of separating children/adults in police custody and encourages alternative measures. According to a leading psychosociologist, justice must rely on social ties, defuse exclusion and integrate the family and community environment. The restorative approach, a more solid reconstruction.
Human and social consequences…
As consequences, one can note, the interruption of education, because incarceration deprives children of schooling, limiting their chances of future integration. We record cases of recidivism without support or accompaniment, most fall back into the offense, often aggravated by confinement.
There is also the family impact due to separation leading to emotional breakdown, social stigmatization and weakening of parental structures. Unfortunately, some obstacles resist reform, such as the lack of human resources, including judges, educators and specialized social workers who are still too scarce.
To this is added the missing infrastructure, notably few adapted centers, overcrowding of prisons, lack of post-detention monitoring, decreasing funding and a lack of alternative measures.
Towards a renewed response…
In order to face this, it is urgent to strengthen alternatives to incarceration, to develop supervised work of general interest, to expand educational and family mediation, to train and mobilize the actors, to institute specialized continuing training for judges, educators and police officers, to create practical guides for the police and justice, to focus on post-detention monitoring, to offer psychosocial support, schooling, integration and mentoring, but also rely on the resilience approach involving families in the restorative process.
Challenges to take on…
Afin de relever les défis, il faut sortir de l’approche punitive et installer une justice réellement réparatrice, alliant médiation, éducation, suivi psychosocial, participation communautaire et investissement durable.
Ce pari nécessite une volonté politique à la hauteur des droits de l’enfant, mais surtout une vision collective, celle d’offrir à chaque enfant placé en conflit avec la loi non une fin, mais une seconde chance pour qu’il devienne acteur de sa propre réinsertion et citoyen épanoui de demain.