A/HRC/45/8/Add.1 V. Other contemporary forms of slavery and slavery-like practices affecting children, including the worst forms of child labour A. Child marriage 54. Forced marriage continues to be practised in Togo, in spite of its prohibition under the Children’s Code. The Special Rapporteur noted during her visit that the country had made progress in addressing this scourge in recent years. Togo was among five countries in West Africa with the greatest decline in levels of child marriage.21 However, while the rate of women married before the age of 18 has decreased, it remains high, with the latest estimates at 21.8 per cent.22 Based on information received by the Special Rapporteur, the practice of forced marriage is mainly prevalent in the northern part of the country. 55. There is a close relationship between child marriage, exploitation and slavery. For example, domestic servitude is inherent in child marriage, while sexual slavery often results from servile marriage. 23 These connections do not necessarily make all child marriages slavery, but in cases in which marriages have an exploitative purpose, the Special Rapporteur considers them to be a contemporary form of slavery.24 56. In 2010, the rate of child marriage in Togo before the age of 15 was still 7 per cent.25 In 2015, the Ministry of Social Action, Promotion of Women and Literacy identified 453 girls as being victims of child marriage, and provided them with rehabilitation services. In 2016, the Government recorded 393 cases of child marriage. Furthermore, in 2018 and 2019, 29 cases of child marriage, and 180 child victims of sexual violence including 171 girls, were reported through the Allo 1011 toll-free hotline, also known as the ligne verte (green line). This hotline was set up in January 2009 for reporting child abuse and exploitation, including child marriage and sexual violence, as well as trafficking, child labour and other child protection concerns. 57. In January 2018, it was reported that 600,000 women and girls, had been married as children in Togo. 26 Furthermore, UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimated in 2018 that 41 per cent of girls and young women in the West and Central Africa region were married before the age of 18, and 14 per cent before the age of 15.27 58. Child marriage is driven by gender inequality, gendered perceptions of societal and work roles and traditional structures of decision-making in Togo that are detrimental to the rights of women and girls. Research and data show that poverty, and living in a rural area, increase the risk of child marriage globally. This holds true in West Africa, where child marriage is more than twice as common in rural areas as it is in urban areas.28 59. As in the case of child labour, child and servile marriage persist in Togo due to social acceptance, and cultural and religious traditions; the practice of dowry; and high levels of violence against girls, with at least 5.5 per cent of girls aged from 9 to 18 years subjected to sexual violence, according to UNFPA. 29 At the same time, according to information received from the Government, only 258 perpetrators of crimes of sexual and gender-based violence were brought to justice between 2017 and 2019. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that out-of-court settlements in cases related to child marriage 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 10 See www.unicef.org/wca/reports/achieving-future-without-child-marriage. DP/FPA/CPD/TGO/7, para. 6. See A/HRC/21/41. See also A/74/179. Data received from UNICEF during the Special Rapporteur’s visit. UNICEF, “Child marriage in West and Central Africa at a glance” (2018), available at www.unicef.org/wca/media/2596/file, p. 5. Ibid., p. 4. Ibid., p. 5. DP/FPA/CPD/TGO/7, para. 6.