Benin

In Benin, same-sex relations are not criminalized. However, discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics is not prohibited, although the Constitution imposes the duty on every citizen to "respect and consider his fellow man without discrimination of any kind." In one study, Benin was ranked 92nd out of 175 countries for the average social acceptance of LGBTIQ people between 2017 and 2020.

LGBTIQ people face stigma and discrimination from both the public and the police, which cracked down on a “network of homosexuals” in 2022. In a 2021 report, the Benin Human Rights Commission expressed concern about acts of physical and sexual assault, arbitrary detention, torture, and inhuman and degrading treatment against LGBTQI+ people. According to a study on six Western and Central African countries, including Benin, LBQ women rarely report discrimination and violence to the police, and 80 percent of those who do report choose to hide “their sexual orientation and/or gender identity in the hope of being treated fairly under the law.” Legal gender recognition is not possible, and according to a 2017 study, half of the trans people surveyed who have been subjected to assault do not seek remedies due to the absence or lack of awareness of these remedies. In 2023, during the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of Benin, the government adopted two recommendations on ending discrimination against LGBTQI+ people and ensuring accountability for perpetrators of anti-LGBT+ violence.

*Outright research indicates that the bodily autonomy of intersex people is not respected and protected in this country.