Women’s Day 2018:

FIDA Cameroon Schools Women on Gender Based Violence

By Boris Esono in Buea

FIDA Cameroon President and Members pose with some participants during the workshop

The international federation of female lawyers, FIDA, Cameroon has engaged women to speak out against gender based violence perpetrated against them. This was one of the resolutions taken during a sensitization campaign held recently at the Buea women’s empowerment center as part of activities leading up to the Women’s Day on 8 March March.

            The United Nations defines Gender based violence, GBV, as any act that results in physical, sexual or psychological harm against someone of the other gender. But FIDA notes that Cameroon which is a signatory to most UN declarations is however replete with various instances of gender based violations.

            Sensitizing the women, the national president of FIDA Cameroon, Mafor Barrister Gladys Mbuyah indicated that the goal of the project being carried out is to bring an end to violence against women and girls.

            She noted that among the forms of violence against women psychological violence is the most dangerous as it can lead to further violence in the future.

            She explained that gender based violence is preoccupying to women and girls especially because some women are ashamed to speak out against the practice. She however noted that men too are victims of violence from women.

            “We are not saying that men are not being violated but 96 out of every 100 women in communities face violence. We are using this advocacy therefore to push the government to change laws in favor of the woman and to make our traditional rulers to eradicate some of the harmful traditional practices that are detrimental to the woman; obnoxious practices like giving a widow water to drink from her husband’s washed corpse. We have to strongly advocate for the end of such practices,” Mafor Mbuyah said.

            The 3 years project in partnership with the Martin Luther King Junior Memorial Foundation, LUKMEF, Cameroon, Pan-African Institute for Development- West Africa, PAID-WA, Voices for Women, VOW, and the delegation of women empowerment and the family is being carried out in six regions of the country: South West, North West, Littoral, East, West and Centre regions. 

            To barrister Cecilia Tutuwan, violence against women and girls affects 1/3 of all women globally in their lives. It violates the woman’s human rights and affects their economic status.

            “Statistics indicate that 35% of women have experienced intimate violence and only 30% have made a formal report of the violence they have suffered. Meantime, 46% of victims report violence informally by complaining to their friends,” Tutuwan pointed out, noting that many women sometimes do not report violence they suffer for fear of the unknown like the loss of marriages and stigmatization amongst others.

            But Tutuwan maintains that despite the difficulties involved in reporting cases, women must take the challenge and denounce because it is only when they report that they can bring an end to the violence against them.

            During the workshop, women were called upon to use the gender based violence mobile app, OPS4Women which helps to track and report cases of violence, and also helps individuals to know what the law says about violence and to find and contact service providers.

            Those in attendance include the president of Voices for Women, Anne Munjong, members of FIDA Cameroon and various CBO leaders from across the southwest region.

            At the end, women were called upon to pass the knowledge gained to their peers in the various quarters.