Climbing out of the canoe onto the wooden porch, Sister Marie Regina Tossou welcomes us with her warm smile, surrounded by singing and clapping teenage girls. No one would suspect the horror that these girls had suffered. Sister Marie Regina Tossou is a Catholic nun and heads the Maria Goretti Center in Sô-Tchanhoué. It is Benin’s first safe-haven for victims of gender-based violence, and is now supported by USAID as part of the Women’s Justice and Empowerment Initiative, which focuses on raising awareness about women’s rights and helping victims of gender-based violence.

For twenty years, Sister Marie Regina has dedicated herself to saving young women and girls from the traditional practice of forced marriage. She lives with the girls in the harsh conditions of the center, a wooden structure perched on stilts within the lake village. Even the most basic needs have to be brought in by boat.

In this part of rural Benin, girls frequently become victims of trafficking and gender-based violence, being sold by their families to the man who offers the highest bid. They are kidnapped, tied up and transported in boats to the man’s house. They are raped daily, and beaten into submission; often held hostage in these inhuman conditions until they become pregnant and have no choice but to stay. The girls sometimes succeed in escaping their tormentors, but have nowhere to turn for refuge. Their usual safety networks – their families – were complicit in their sale and kidnapping. Their only hope is the Maria Goretti Center. With support from USAID, the center is able to welcome all the girls who come in need of her help. The girls are safe in the Maria Goretti Center. Through the USAID program, the center provides a package of services to the girls, including health and psychological care, and slowly they recover from the trauma of being victims of such violence. They also become literate and learn a trade. Earning the trade diploma takes about four years, and once they have their certificate, and with family counseling, they are able to go back home, ready to earn their living and no longer in danger of becoming a victim of trafficking or violence.

Though Sister Marie Regina has been threatened and her center attacked for saving the girls and fighting the traditional practice of forced marriage, she courageously continues her dedicated service. Within the USAID supported awareness raising campaign, she is also a strong national voice in advocating a stop to gender-based violence and in particular to forced marriage. She insists that eradicating forced marriage can and must be done, and she has made it her life work to make it happen – one girl at a time. ?

By: Elvire Houenassou, USAID/Benin.