EU Ambassador calls for global action to end violence against women.

This was during celebrations to mark the 2024 edition of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Though the event was focused on the state of the Cameroonian woman as far as Gender-based Violence, GBV, is concerned, the EU Ambassador insisted that violence against women is a worldwide phenomenon.

He expressed dismay that even in Europe where, for more than half a century, violence against women has ceased to be an issue, agitations are rearing up their ugly heads again.

The EU chieftain disclosed that of late, more and more men in Europe are calling on women to return to their traditional roles of managing the home, bearing and rearing children, washing and cleaning for their families. 

The development, the Ambassador said, has also pushed more and more European women to engage in protests, demanding that the human rights of women need to be protected.

The Ambassador reminded the women that though technology has brought so much physical advancement to humanity, morality and the moral consciences of individuals have made little or no progress.

The EU Ambassador decried the high incidence of feminicide, rape, incest and other forms of sexual violence against women in Cameroon, and assured the womenfolk that the EU will always stand by and support them in the fight to eliminate violence against women.

He lauded the efforts of Cameroonian women who, through the creation of various networks, are fighting to end violence and all forms of segregation against them. 

Ambassador Chataigner went on to recommend measures that could readily permit women to eliminate GBV, including unity among women-led networks. 

He also advised women to exploit the generational advantage offered by women politicians who were represented powerfully at the event by a powerful delegation of the network of elected female Mayors in Cameroon, known by its French acronym, REFELACAM.

Ambassador Chataigner also advised Cameroonian women to use their networks to fight to restore peace in the Far North, North West, and South West Regions, where, he said, conditions of women are even more precarious because of the generalised state of violence and insecurity. 

Economic independence key to freedom

Speaking at the event, the President of the Network of Elected Mayors in Cameroon, REFELACAM, Marie Angel Noa, who doubles as Mayor of Akondum Council, said only financial independence can give women a voice and the wherewithal to eliminate violence against them.

She said with financial liberty, women would be able to act without the usual restrictions that men and society impose on them because they are economically and financially dependent.

The municipal authority added that even at the level of the home, women who are financially independent and financially supportive of their husbands, rarely experience violence from their partners.

She, however, warned that African societies are basically patriarchal, and advised women not mix up financial and other forms of empowerment as opportunity to rival and compete with men, as some women do. 

She said the roles of men and women are supposed to be complementary, if the next generation must be prepared and placed in a position to improve society.

Music & innovation as useful tools

Cameroonian music icon, Blick Bassy, took the floor and harped on how men could use music and promote the message of love that binds men and women together, and redress the challenge of GBV. 

He was of the opinion that if women exploite their innate capacity to give love and share love, the men who are supposedly their lovers would not turn around and hurt the women they love.

Bassy expressed the view that before men turn around to hurt the women they love, it means the woman has been found wanting in one way or the other. 

The president of the network of young girls in the fight against gender-based violence in Cameroon, known by its French acronym, REJEFECAM, Caroline Mveng, said their preoccupation is on changing societal stereotypes and re-education of men and the boy child.

She narrated how in some communities in Cameroon, a man beating his wife is considered to be a sign of love, over which no one is supposed to intrude. 

Mveng also cited cases where incest is committed by a member of the extended family or even a man on his daughter, and there will not only be silence, but the victim has no place to be moved to, to save her from the trauma.

She castigated the State for not providing safety networks and laws that protect women, especially minors, from the ravages of angry and or hot pants relatives, boyfriends, and even husbands.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3302 of Tuesday November 26, 2024