By Simon Kalla
In Cameroon, like in most countries across the globe, violence against women and girls is a preoccupying reality.
It is for this reason, Hope for a better tomorrow, HOBET Organisation recently organised a two days capability workshop with local journalists in Limbe and survivors of sexual gender-based violence recounting their ordeal.
The workshop was also a platform to educate journalists to use their voice and skills to ethically document and report cases of SGBV through advocacy contents and exposed perpetrators.
“The media can change beliefs and attitudes of communities through appropriate reporting of SGBV cases using international and regional legal frameworks to stop all forms of SGBV especially against women and girls that continue to occur at alarming rates across the world”,
“In Cameroon, there has been an increase in sexual violence and assault cases in the North, North West and South West regions. It is reported that the main perpetrators are armed separatists, military personnel and civilians. Women have been the main target during the conflict in Cameroon since 2016”. The founder of HOBET, Tembeng Eli-Anne Anwi explained.
But such violations are sometimes mistakenly portrayed as being caused by crises, attributing such acts to displacement, presence of government and non-government armed groups, economic hardship, and so on.
Gender-based violence in Cameroon has been an existing reality prior to the crises, and occurs in areas where guns are silent.
In all, 56.4% of women in Cameroon have suffered emotional and/or sexual violence. Let’s put it straight: Humanitarian situations, be they natural or human-made disasters, do not generate, but rather exacerbate the rates of gender-based violence, SGBV.
Meanwhile in the international scene, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an international bill of rights for women. The Convention defines discrimination against women as any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status.
Survivor narrates ordeal
Theresia being an orphan in Kumba without money to continue school, she dropped out from school at form 5, and because the aunt could not assist to further her education. She was sent to do house help work in Douala. The mistress’s boyfriend kept proposing to her while lobbying her with money worth FCFA 20,000 to use and get something for herself.
One fateful day, the mistress’s boyfriend came home with his friend, they raped her. Theresia was rush to the hospital for checkup. She left the hospital and went back to Kumba and told her aunt the story, but she could not believe her. She later left the house and stayed with a friend where she got pregnant. The boyfriend started mistreating her, she left him with the two kids and went to back mountain.
While at back mountain, a military man started proposing to her but she was not giving in to his proposal. It happens that, one fateful day separatist fighters invaded the area and military were chasing them in that clash of confusion, the military man saw her in the forest and told her ‘come rain or shine’ he will sex her. She pleaded but he insisted. She was only recused by some other military officials who intervened.
This production is realised with support from HOBET’S CLEARING SGBV project and women deliver
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