TOGOTOGOA UNICEF report published in 2010 states that 91% of children aged 2-14 experienced violent discipline (physical punishment and/or psychological aggression) in 2005-2006. More than three quarters experienced physical punishment. Non-violent discipline was also widely used: experienced by 90% of children. More than a quarter of children experienced severe physical punishment (being hit or slapped on the face, head or ears or being hit over and over with an implement) and 83% experienced psychological aggression (being shouted at, yelled at, screamed at or insulted). Children aged 5-9 were slightly more likely to experience violent discipline than younger children: 92% of children aged 5-9 compared to 87% of children aged 2-4. No significant differences in children’s experience of violent discipline were found according to sex, household size, level of education of adults in the household or engagement in child labour.
(UNICEF, 2010, Child Disciplinary Practices at Home: Evidence from a Range of Low- and Middle-Income Countries, NY: UNICEF)
According to statistics from UNICEF on violence in the family, in 2005-2006 more than half (53%) of girls and women aged 15-49 thought that a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife under certain circumstances.
(UNICEF, 2009, Progress for Children: A report card on child protection, NY: UNICEF)
From mid-2005, Plan Togo commissioned research into violence and abuse in schools (Plan Togo, 2006). This included a joint study with the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) which involved interviews with 1,000 schoolchildren in 35 villages and with more than 500 mothers of school aged children, teachers, traditional chiefs, members of security services, social workers and others, a case study on violence and abuse in Togolese schools comprising 19 first-person narratives and observations based on interviews with children, parents and teachers in 7 villages and 2 towns, and a discussion of structural violence in the education system in Togo. In the FAWE research, children in their last 3 years of primary school were interviewed: 88% of the girls and 87% of the boys reported experiencing physical violence at school; 52% of girls and 48% of boys reported experiencing threatening behaviour or psychological violence.
(Plan Togo, 2006, Suffering to Succeed? Violence and abuse in schools in Togo, Lome: Plan Togo)
A 2003 Human Rights Watch report on child trafficking in Togo noted that many boys had been recruited into agricultural labour and worked very long hours, with many recalling that taking time off for sickness or injury would lead to longer working hours or corporal punishment. Most boys interviewed reported suffering physical injuries on the job and some of these were from corporal punishment by employers. The report notes that girls trafficked for domestic or market labour also experienced frequent beatings, carried out by bosses or by other neighbours
(Human Rights Watch, 2003, Borderline Slavery: Child Trafficking in Togo).
Report available at: http://hrw.org/reports/2003/togo0403/