Cameroon: society’s silence in the face of violence and feminicide worries women

The upsurge in feminicide and violence against women is being denounced by some members of Cameroonian civil society. Since the beginning of the year, 30 feminicides have been recorded, compared with 130 over the previous two years.

Mispa Nangun. Mentchum Wambo. Danielle Zousse. Vanessa Youbi. Four names of feminicide victims among too many others in Cameroon. Since the beginning of the year, the country has recorded 30 cases of feminicide, collected over the last 82 days, according to Marie-Thérèse Abena Ondoa, Minister for the Promotion of Women and the Family, with a peak of 10 cases in April alone. An alarming finding given that 130 cases had already been recorded between 2021 and 2022, as between 2019 and 2020.

On Monday May 15 in Yaoundé, at a conference organized jointly by the Minister, UN Women and the United Nations Population Fund, civil society denounced the explosion in feminicide and violence against women in the country. « An increase that occurs in both public and private spaces. In the public space, most victims are first raped », explains Viviane Tathi, founder and coordinator of the Sourires de femmes association, which aims to provide emergency services to women and girls who are victims of violence in Cameroon.

While Cameroonian laws seem to be very forthcoming on women’s protection issues, they are equally evasive on sanctions against violations. The Cameroonian state still has a long way to go in protecting and promoting women’s rights.

Janvier Hassana