By July 2016, the total prison population had risen to 6,847 inmates.

The rate of incarceration rate is decreasing but remains high compared to other countries in West Africa. In 2016, it was estimated to be 63 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants. It was 66 in 2014, and 77 in 2012. As in many African countries, traditional justice limits the use of “formal” justice.

For a study on traditional justice, see the African Initiative for Human Security¹

Prison overcrowding remains a major concern. In July 2016, the occupancy rate was 204 % for a theoretical capacity of 3,350 places. This rate has decreased since 2013, mainly after the opening of Abomey-Calavi Prison in 2014. The problem of overcrowding is particularly linked to the dysfunction of the penal system. The ratio of defendants is particularly high compared to that of the convicted: in July 2016, 66. 6 % of 6,847 people were held in custody. With the exception of Akpro-Missérété, all prisons are overcrowded. They accommodate two to five times their maximal reception capacity. The adoption of the new Code of Criminal Procedure was passed in 2012 and enacted in March 2013. It provides for sentence management measures and early release that may have an impact on the prison situation if used.

In July 2016, the prisons were home to 259 women, representing 3.8 % of the prison population on that date. Minors are incarcerated with women.

No prison is exclusively reserved for them. In theory, prisoners must be separated on the basis of gender, but this is not always respected in practice. In Cotonou, Ouidah, Abomey, Parakou, Lokassa and Abomey-Calavi, women and minors have to cross the men’s quarters to gain access to the central courtyard, administration, medical care unit, parlor, place of worship … In some prisons, the entrances to women’ and minors’ quarters are guarded ? held ? by male prisoners.

Prison staff is mostly male, including in areas reserved for women. Women’s quarters are generally cleaner than those of men’s, but they still face the same hygienic problems.

The nutritional requirements of pregnant and lactating women are not taken into account when preparing meals.

The specific health needs of pregnant women are not taken into consideration. They are not medically followed during pregnancy. They give birth in the nearest health center under the supervision of a guard .

In July 2016, among the imprisoned women, 31 were accompanied by their children. They must share their daily food ration with their infants. Theoretically, a child may not live in prison with his mother after the age of four. With no host family structures, or the possibility of being taken in by a family member, the child remains with his mother. There is no development aid for these children. They depend on their mothers.

In July 2016, the prisons accommodated 104 minors, representing 1.5 % of the prison population on that date.

Only measures of guardianship, supervision and education may be exercised over a minor under 15 years. Minors over 15 years of age may be subject to a criminal conviction, custody or rehabilitation measures.

In theory, juvenile and adult prisoners must be separated. In general this is practically not respected. In some prisons an adult is designated as an attendant for minors. He then lives in the same building as them. Juvenile units are generally cleaner than those of adults.

Minors are the only ones to obtain the rare psychological or psychosocial services offered by social workers.

Daily food rations are the same as those of adults. The specific nutritional needs of minors are not taken into account.

Three child- and adolescent protection centers take care of minors in difficult situations. They are located in Agblangandan, Aplahoué and Parakou. The first one operates both in an open and closed environment and the other two solely in an open environment. Minors are referred to these centers during, or, at the end of their incarceration in order to assist them in their social re-integration.