BY MILDRED NDUM WUNG KUM
The Rural Women Center for Education and Development RuWCED has in a SWOT meeting engaged various facets of the community in an effort to stamp out violence against women and girls. RuWCED was in Ngoketunjia Division of the Northwest region Cameroon March 12, where it met with multiple community leaders during which they agreed on asserting knowledge, attitude and practice in order to understand violence against women and girls as well as kick out the societal ill. The meeting took place at the Ndop District Hospital where issues of Gender Based Violence especially violence against women and girls were put on the table. Present at the meeting were the Communication Officer and Project Coordinator for RuWCED Rabiatou Aliyu, the Coordinator for RuWCED Vera Wirsiy and other RuWCED officials.
The aspect of violation of women and girls rights is common in Ngoketunjia Division; rape, child marriage, women are beaten by their spouses, the woman is relegated to the background in times of decision making, she is also not given the adequate resources to carter for the home and at times she is denied the right to carryout economic activities that can fetch her huge incomes. It is against this backdrop that RuWCED organised a meeting to examine Strengths Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT ANALYSIS) with the aim of creating awareness and implementing a strategy to combat the ills with the participation of all persons in the community. During the meeting, RuWCED also introduced her new project entitled, “Using a Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices” (KAP) Study to understand Violence Against Women and Girls in conflict towards building a participatory and robust response Network in Ngoketunjia Division of Cameroon.
It brought together civil society organisations, pedagogues, women networks, members and heads of rotating savings associations, representatives from the delegation of Social Affairs, representatives from Women Affairs Delegation, health officials, traditional and religious leaders. RuWCED during the session assessed their knowledge of GBV, enriched them with the various forms of GBV, pointed out the factors that breed this problem and engaged these members of the community to be prompt in reporting anything that infringe women and girls rights. Participants at the workshop were schooled on the forms of GBV including economic violence, physical violence psychological violence, and sexual violence. They were also told to speak up by reporting any form of violence seen to RuWCED for immediate reaction and address of the problem. Meanwhile victims of rape should be referred to the hospital as soon as it happens to prevent health complications that may be difficult to handle after forty eight hours. Participants then split into groups where they discussed on societal factors that either promote GBV or prevent girls from fully enjoying their rights. The group work had various stakeholders talking on where the problem comes from and what they are going back to do in order to be both reactive and proactive about GBV.
At the end of the session, participants were satisfied for the initiative of RuWCED and they disclosed that they are going back with the resolution to join RuWCED in the fight against GBV. According to the Chief of Social Center from Ndop “I learned a lot of issues. They talked of economic violence against women something I have never known. They talked of creating counselling centres in the villages and I look forward to work with the centers in order to end violence against women and girls”
The leader of a rotating savings association was thankful “I am the vice president of our Njangi group from Bamessing. The meeting was so interesting and educative. I did not know about the different forms of violence against women but now I know that there is sexual violence and others. And I am going back to teach people to educate the girl child and concerning the vocational training center that would be opened I would also encourage girls to be part of it”
Rev Ngeh Martin, Pastor of Fountain Baptist Church Bamunka was also grateful “RuWCED has really strategized with their programs carved out and I see that by God’s grace much would be realised. With the much I have learned, I would keep communicating by getting in touch with RuWCED. I am going out now to get cases of violence and violation and report immediately to RuWCED. Before this seminar I was already aware of GBV and working about it but with the knowledge of today I would be more aggressive in getting cases on violence such that I can communicate for a solution to be given to it. I am more determined than ever to report especially grievous cases so that they should be properly handled”
The Quarter Head Babungo and Chairman of the Babungo Traditional Counsel was overwhelmed with the knowledge gained “I’m so happy that they came because of the present situation we are going through. The meeting has been very important because it touched on the protection of the rights of the girl child, fighting violence against women and children. As I go back home, I would do everything in my capacity to ensure that this organisation is well planted in the village. I think that with the coming of the NGO, I have learned much that would foster my community especially on aspects of the girl child”
Tata Delphine, a head teacher of an educational institution said she goes back to be more active
“Every day we witness girls being abused in schools, in the community and even in the homes. Girls are deprived of their rights. With this seminar, I would say RuWCED is making us to be active. I’m going back to visit community school to educate them on violence against women and girls. I would bring people who need counselling to the counselling center. I learned that we should rush issues of rape to the hospital as soon as it happens and also refer them to the counselling center”
Speaking to the press, Madam Rabiatou Aliyu, one of the project coordinators with RuWCED threw more light on the aim of the SWOT meeting “This meeting actually focused on the various forms of violence like physical, sexual, emotional, socio economic violence as well as harmful traditional practices, rape, incest, harassment, domestic violence, child exploitation, widow inheritance female genital mutilation, breast ironing and ritual practices related to virginity and generally other forms of harmful practices. We are going to introduce a project on it for aduration of three years that would be implemented in the thirteen villages of Ngoketunjia Division. We are aware that the perception and attitude of people don’t change instantly because we still have people who think that the place of a woman is in the kitchen or that a man is superior to a woman and communities that still practice child marriage which is a form of violence so with these perception we know that it is not easy to make people change so we need this duration for the project so that we would be able to sensitize them in order to change their views as far as violence against women and girls and concerned ” she said
After the SWOT meeting, RuWCED looks forward in seeing all stakeholders to be participative in both proactive and reactive ways by building a robust response network in Ngoketunjia Division concerning violence against women and girls. They are expected to take action to fight beliefs, attitudes and practices that fuel various forms of violence against women and girls as well as deter sexual and reproductive health rights, a move that would advance the psychological, physical and material welfare of the woman.