Fallouts of Anglophone Crisis & COVID-19; Rape & Sexual Harassment of IDPs on the Rise

Fallouts of Anglophone Crisis & COVID-19; Rape & Sexual Harassment of IDPs on the Rise

"We have registered increasing acts of Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the communities we serve, ranging from rape, child abuse, domestic violence and other forms that come with the measures put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19" said Madam Christel Bay Nfor, executive director of Hope for the Needy Association (HOFNA), an organization championing the fight against gender-based violence, the localisation of peace and implementation of United Nations  Security Council Resolution 1325 in Cameroon. 

Training Session 

She was speaking at the end of a series of workshops organised by HOFNA between May 25 to June 20th 2020 in the North West, South West, Centre, Littoral and West region of Cameroon as part of its National Initiative to End Violence Against Women and Girls (NITE-VAWG), sponsored by the German Mission to Cameroon.

The trainings aimed at building income generating skills for disadvantaged internally displaced young women and teenage mothers, engage active community leaders to respond to and prevent GBV through a campaign dubbed "Know Your Rights" and most especially set the pace to work with these grassroot communities to develop a local approach to the implementation of #UNSCR1325 in Cameroon which centres around peace building. 

Training Session

Munteh Florence is HOFNA's Programs Manager. Braving the challenges brought by COVID-19 on one hand and the violent conflict affecting some of the regions on the other hand, she successfully carried the team through the five regions, bringing vital information and resources to support the fight against GBV in the selected communities.

The skills of 100 internally displaced young girls and teenage mothers in these 5 regions have thus been built as they can now produce soap, reusable sanitary pads and beaded sandals/slippers to enhance their livelihoods and generate income. Most importantly, each participant returned home with basic startup materials. 

Startup Materials

The increment in child abuse, domestic violence, rape and sexual abuse of women and girls mostly the internally displaced ones comes as a result of their vulnerability. They depend mostly on others for shelter, food and income. As such most irresponsible men tend to take advantage over them. When such happens, they have no shoulder to lean on and out of fear, shame or ignorance will prefer to die in silence. 

HOFNA has however put in place measures like education, establishment of a community response system in the form of GBV Survivors Support Networks to facilitate the reporting of cases in different communities for perpetrators to be brought to book.