CHAPTER THREE: DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL GOVERNANCE __________________________________________________________________________ in marriage and could be bequeathed, against her wishes, to a third member of the family in her husband’s will14. She does not inherit from her direct ancestry or from her husband, and is denied all rights except that of managing the home. 280. Apart from the violation of their economic rights, women also undergo serious attacks on their physical and moral integrity. Early and forced marriages, genital mutilation, widowhood rites, physical violence, and lack of respect for succession rights still persist. According to the men and women interviewed, these old practices are still prevalent in towns and villages in modern Benin. 281. The victims of these violations are awaiting the application of new provisions and hope that offences will be appropriately punished by the Penal Code. Meanwhile the Penal Code, which is supposed to be in line with these new laws, is still pending at the National Assembly. Furthermore, the poor functioning of the justice system (its complexity, cost and influence) discourages women from resorting to it. Also, in cases of family conflict, it is the traditional judges who generally intervene and apply customary laws. These are characterised by socio-cultural barriers that are not favourable to women. As mentioned in Objective 1 of this chapter, traditional authorities ignore the relevant provisions of the constitutional, legislative and regulatory framework and, more specifically, the provisions of the Civil Code, the Penal Code and the Penal Procedure Code. 282. With regard to the participation of women in governance, the CRM pointed out that they are under-represented on decision-making structures at all levels. While women account for more than half the population (51.5% according to the last census in 2002), there are only six women ministers, only five women parliamentarians (out of 83 in the National Assembly), and only two women out of seven at the Constitutional Court (i.e. 28.57%) – although this court has been headed by women since it was set up. Only 26.8% of the civil service is female, there were only two women prefects out of six in 2006 (33.33%), only three out of 77 mayors elected in 2003 were women (3.9%), there were only 46 women community councillors out of 1,199 (3.84%), and only 47 out of 327 members of the executive bureaux of parties in 2003 were women (14.4%). However, 61% of people in the social ministries are women. Furthermore, according to a study carried out by a team of consultants, led by Adrien Glèlè Ahanhanzo, “the highest proportion of women within the executive bureaux of political parties is 23.8% (5 out of 21), 20% (three out of 15)…” and so on. These figures indicate that Benin is far off the objectives set in the Beijing Action Forum, which aims at women comprising at least onethird (33%) of representatives on decision-making bodies. This figure, however, cannot be reached as political parties do not offer enough candidates. This situation was highlighted by interested parties and participants at the different meetings of the CRM, especially by those who were present at the Forum on Women in Cotonou. They called for the adoption of a law on quotas, which would be applied temporarily and abolished once the desired quotas had been reached. Besides a law on quotas – which the CRM regards as 14 INSAE. 2003. Characteristics of Vulnerable People in Benin. 112