† Determined by national law or regulation as hazardous and, as such, relevant to Article 3(d) of ILO C. 182.
‡ Child labor understood as the worst forms of child labor per se under Article 3(a)–(c) of ILO C. 182.

Children at Higher Risk

Girls are especially at risk for the worst forms of child labor because they are particularly targeted for exploitation and are not able to fully benefit from the protection of the law due to traditional practices. Girls are the victims of most sex and labor trafficking within Benin; girls are also trafficked to Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, and, to a lesser extent, other countries in West and Central Africa. Criminal groups recruit Beninese girls for domestic work in Lebanon, Algeria, and the Persian Gulf. Under a traditional practice called vidomègon, children—the majority of which are girls—from northern rural areas are trafficked to the urban southern corridor where community members and relatives use the promise of education or employment to exploit them in domestic servitude, markets, farming, the production of handicrafts, and commercial sexual exploitation. Children from villages along Benin’s border with Niger and Nigeria, rural children, children from low-income families, and children without birth registration documents are also at higher risk for child labor.

Barriers to Education Access

Evidence suggests that incidences of abuse in school, including corporal punishment, sexual harassment, and sexual exploitation by teachers in exchange for attending class, taking exams, and receiving passing grades continue to hamper educational access, especially for girls. Early and forced marriage, unplanned pregnancy, inadequate toilets and sanitation facilities, as well as cultural taboos and lack of access to menstruation education and products further impede girls’ education. Other barriers include traveling long distances to attend class, not enough school buildings, and an insufficient number of teachers. The government runs 20 specialty schools for students with disabilities, but access is limited in rural areas. Children from rural and poor families also often lack identity documents due to the cost as well as to parents’ limited understanding of birth registration procedures. Children without documentation may be denied education, leaving them more vulnerable to child labor.

‡ Age calculated based on available information

Children in Benin are required to attend primary school, which lasts 6 years and typically ends at age 11. This standard makes children ages 11 through 14 vulnerable to child labor as they are not required to attend school but are not legally permitted to work. In addition, while the law provides free primary education to all children, basic education through the lower secondary level is not guaranteed by law, which may increase the risk of children’s vulnerability to child labor.

In 2024, 64 labor inspectors conducted 1,968 of worksite inspections, finding 9,842 child labor violations, removing 1,394 children from labor situations, and referring 630 children to care services. Although the Labor Code permits labor inspectors to inspect all workplaces, the government has reported that labor inspectors are not permitted to conduct inspections in the agricultural sector, an area in which children are known to perform hazardous work, due to the lack of an implementation decree. The government also conducted an unknown number of investigations into suspected worst forms of child labor crimes, initiated 51 prosecutions, and convicted 21 perpetrators. The sentences for these convictions were commuted entirely, thereby allowing perpetrators to operate with impunity.

† The government had other policies that may have addressed child labor issues or had an impact on child labor.

‡ Program is funded by the Government of Benin.
† The government had other social programs that may have included the goal of eliminating or preventing child labor.

Download the 2024 Bibliography