Advocacy and consensus on ending feminicide in Cameroon

In the framework of the commemoration of the International Day of Families, the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and the Family (MINPROFF) in partnership with UNFPA and UN WOMEN organized an advocacy session to end impunity for perpetrators of Gender-based, marital, domestic and family violence. The session brought together Prof. Marie-Therese Abena Ondoa, Minister of Women’s Empowerment and the Family, Mr. Momo Jean-de-dieu, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Justice, Prof. Jean Emmanuel Pondi, Rector of the ICT University and prominent he-for-she, representatives of forces of law and order, civil society and the media to ponder over the situation of the intentional killing of women or girls, widely known as feminicide in Cameroon.

The International Day of Families, commemorated on May 15th each year, is a day set aside to provide an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to families and to increase the knowledge of the social, economic and demographic processes affecting families. This year, the Ministry of Women Empowerment and the Family (MINPROFF) and its partners chose to ponder on the issue of feminicides in Cameroon in a context where close to 30 women have been murdered in the space of 3 months over the national territory. Among the 30 victims, mostly killed by their spouses or partners, Mrs. Metchum Wambo, a secondary school teacher in the Far North Region of Cameroon who was stabbed to death by her husband after a domestic dispute.

“We are fighting these barbaric acts with all our might and the perpetrators must be punished.” Said Professor Marie-Therese Abena Ondoa, Minister of Women’s Empowerment and the Family.

It is in this light that various stakeholders came together to call families, survivors and actors to break the silence, apply for justice, enforce the law and provide care. Through

presentations and speeches, the representatives of stakeholders present threw more light on their measures and efforts to support survivors and families. Prominent among them, the Ministry of Justice which presented the legal framework and procedures in the advent of any form of violence and subsequently feminicide. On the other hand, the police forces shed more light on the gender desk initiative which is a toll-free hotline through which cases can be reported directly to the police for rapid intervention. The media was not left behind thanks to the participation of Griote TV, an online TV channel focused on the well-being and empowerment of women. Griote TV presented their investigative journalism results around the phenomenon of Feminicides in Cameroon as well as their numerous initiatives in collaboration with various women-led civil society organizations to sensitize on the phenomenon and communicate on cases towards the final identification and repression of perpetrators.

The UN System on the other hand, comprising of UNFPA and UN WOMEN, shared its various initiatives among which the 24 safe spaces run by UNFPA in the various humanitarian intervention hotspots of the country.  These safe spaces run in collaboration with MINPROFF and local civil society organizations do not only provide shelter for survivors but also psychosocial first aid to traumatized survivors, sensitization for GBV prevention for vulnerable women as well as training in income-generating activities for the economic empowerment of the users. UNFPA supported MINPROFF to advocate for an improved legal framework to end the practice. “We are here to support ending the worst form of intimate partner violence.” Said Noemi Dalmonte, UNFPA Deputy Representative.

UNFPA, as a lead agency in working to respond to and reduce gender-based violence, supports the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and the Family in humanitarian and development settings. As such, the organization has contributed to strengthening national policies; accountability, and normative frameworks, including laws on gender-based violence. UNFPA also works extensively in collecting data and generating evidence to understand the prevalence, incidence and impact of gender-based violence in Cameroon.