On Wednesday 14 October 2026, the Réseau des Femmes Leaders pour le Développement (RFLD) and Benin’s Institut National de la Femme (INF) held a working meeting with Dr Rokhaya Diakhaté, Director of the Family at Senegal’s Ministry of Family, Social Action and Solidarity (Ministère de la Famille, de l’Action sociale et des Solidarités), in Dakar. The meeting was a chance for the two countries to compare how they protect women and families, and for the Ministry to learn in more detail from the experience of the INF.
The RFLD delegation was led by Mr John GBENAGNON, RFLD Regional Director of Strategy and Development and head of RFLD’s delegation to the 89th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Ms Flore DJINOU, Executive Secretary of the INF, led the Beninese team. RFLD organised the meeting as part of the INF’s mission programme in Dakar.
From the panel to the Ministry
The meeting followed directly from the side event that RFLD and the INF held on 13 October on the sidelines of the 89th Session. Dr Rokhaya Diakhaté moderated that panel. She guided the discussion on the INF model with care and asked the questions that Senegalese institutions would ask before adapting it. Her Ministry is engaged alongside RFLD, and her role as moderator reflected that commitment.
A one-hour panel leaves many questions open. The visit to the Ministry gave time to go further, in a smaller room and with the teams that work on these issues every day. The INF came prepared to explain how it works in practice, from the first call of a woman in distress to the decision of a court.
Learning from the INF experience
The INF presented its foundations. It was created by Decree No. 2021-391 of 21 July 2021 and reports directly to the Presidency of the Republic of Benin. Five years after its creation, the institution says its work has changed the lives of more than 118,000 women and girls.
Its mission rests on two pillars. The first is promoting women’s leadership in public and private life. The second is fighting all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls. Women can reach the INF through the toll-free number 114 or on WhatsApp.
What sets the INF apart is its legal power. It is the only institution in Benin specialised in gender-based violence that can bring cases to court and join proceedings as a civil party alongside victims and survivors. From its creation to July 2026, it registered 11,971 complaints, brought 5,155 cases before the courts and obtained 1,439 judicial decisions. These figures drew particular attention, because they show what happens when a public body follows cases all the way to judgment.
The INF team also described how it works with community leaders and civil society. A woman who reports violence often needs medical care and legal help at the same time. The INF coordinates these services so that she does not have to tell her story again at every door.
What Senegal brings to the conversation
The exchange went both ways. Senegal has its own tools to protect women and families. Law No. 2020-05 of 10 January 2020 made rape a crime and toughened penalties for sexual violence against children. The Ministry runs social services and family support structures across the country and works with civil society on prevention and care.
Participants discussed where the two systems could learn from each other. Benin’s experience shows the value of a dedicated body with the power to act in court. Senegal’s experience shows the strength of social services rooted in families and communities. Both countries face the same challenge: many women who suffer violence never file a complaint, and many complaints never reach a judge.
RFLD’s role
RFLD is recognised as an international organisation by the Government of Senegal and has an office in Dakar. As a pan-African feminist network of 1,143 member organisations in more than 35 countries, it brings partners from different countries together around shared problems. RFLD is proud to have helped create this space for dialogue between the INF and Senegalese institutions, and to facilitate it during the 89th Session.
On the same day, the delegation was also received by Senegal’s Minister of Justice, Maître Moussa Sarr, and by the Association des Juristes Sénégalaises. Together, these meetings give a full picture of the path a woman follows to obtain justice, from social support to the courtroom.
Next steps
RFLD and the INF will produce a note of recommendations from the mission by 31 October 2026, followed by a comparative note on national gender institutions in Benin and Senegal by 15 November 2026. The lessons from the meeting with the Ministry of Family, Social Action and Solidarity will feed into both documents. RFLD will continue to work with the Ministry on the protection of women and families in Senegal.
RFLD thanks Dr Rokhaya Diakhaté and her team for their welcome and their commitment, and Ms Flore DJINOU and the INF team for sharing the Benin experience.
Read more
- The INF and RFLD side event at the 89th Session
- Senegal’s Minister of Justice receives RFLD and the INF
- RFLD and the INF visit the Association des Juristes Sénégalaises
About RFLD: the Réseau des Femmes Leaders pour le Développement is a pan-African feminist network of 1,143 member organisations in more than 35 countries, with Observer Status N°553 with the ACHPR. Media enquiries: communications.info@rflgd.org
