BY MILDRED NDUM WUNG KUM
At this time in the calendar, the trend usually tilts toward the woman with lots of buzz about the prowess of women keeping the air vivacious. At the moment, the contrary is unfortunately being felt as any woman in Cameroon’s Anglophone zone have but a painful tale. The idea of Women’s Day celebration is even a far thought. The mood is one of gloom. All dimensions of the woman’s life is touched; be it family life through professional life, love or romance, pleasure or leisure of the woman, the story on every lip evokes horror. It is the unending Anglophone crisis that has torn women apart, leaving each woman with sighs of distress, groaning and mourning. At the center of every talking point with a woman in this part of the country, you would hear the woman recounting the bitter experience of life.
The International Day of the Woman usually observed on March 8th is a day set aside to commemorate the struggle for women’s rights and gender equality as well as celebrate her achievements.
The word celebration has however become something of obliteration for women in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon for three years now. The stories of suffering abound. It is experienced on an almost daily base. Women and girls are being killed, their homes burnt, their husbands, fathers, lovers or siblings brutalised at times shot. Rape is also being recorded on women and girls.
Women too have lost their jobs and cannot afford food. Many have been pushed into sexual immorality just to put food on the table. A few women who attempted to go out celebrating last year in Bamenda were attacked; their fabrics seized and worn on goats. Wailing women speaking to Info Trends want their voices heard and their plight reversed.
Forbah Pauline in Bambili says this year’s Women’s day Celebration is far. “We have had a lot of displacement of our brothers and sisters, a lot of killings that we find it difficult to put on that uniform not to talk of celebration, we cannot even do the march past because how do we leave our houses to go to the field. But except those top officials who can make available armoured cars for their wives because the ordinary woman would not afford to walk in the midst of insecurity. I can remember the last celebration and some women on their way back were well beaten, removed the dresses and tied on goats and pigs. They would prefer to go to their farms and work because of kidnapping and burning of houses.”
Immaculate Bih thinks that the day is not worth celebrating “I
think the Women’s Day 2020 is not worth celebrating. Are we celebrating the killings of Children, pregnant women, Husbands or what? Today we see women digging graves to bury their love ones, we see them staying in the bushes they have now become wild animals, they lack social amenities some giving birth to children in the bushes. There have been high rate of promiscuity because some do not have food to eat. Is this what we the women will go out on the streets to March and celebrate? I think we need to put on but mourning garments to mourn all those that have been killed because of this crisis and pray to God almighty to forgive our sins. We cannot give life and so we do not have the right to take it”
Speaking to a civil society activist, she outlined the troubles faced by women “Men are still battering woman and Custom still condone this. Many women are still traditionally married without marriage certificates. There’s still no law that incriminates a man for cohabitation without a marriage certificate. Parents are only interested in recieving bride price without following up with legalization of the marriage”
According to the Executive Director of the Organisation Women for a Change Bamenda, the conversation on Women’s day should be centered on women and girls “The word celebration is contentious in the context of women’s rights movement. As a feminist I see the celebration of Women’s day as a moment of stock taking, recognition and deep reflection about what has been some of the games in realising women’s rights on all aspects, this could be economic, educational, financial, health, political, technological and also look at what could have been done better in advancing women’s agenda for example the recent municipal and legislative elections that took place like look at why were there low participation of women and what could be done in order to have an increased number of women in strategic spaces like the national assembly” She said. The feminist advocate yearns that the presidential couple heed to the cry of women. “I expect to see more of an activism and more of an honest and thorough conversation. The first lady should speak to her husband in a pillow conversation to see that he champions in his government for peace on women and peace on all. How has women’s day been used as a day of conscience pricking to say women’s rights are human rights, to say women are humans, to condemn the killing of women and children, and the targeting of civilians in times of conflict?”
According to Rosaline Okah Aba, peace journalist and gender activist, this year’s women’s day should be a moment of stock taking “Gone are the days when women especially those in the northwest and southwest regions used to celebrate women’s day with pomp and energy. The crisis has brought so much pain, so much frustration in the life of women and children as well as the community. Such an international day should be an opportunity not to go to buy fabrics but to reflect and shift the narrative in the way we can contribute for lasting peace to reign in Cameroon so we need to speak out, call a spade a spade especially as we see things happening. We should on this day sit like women, like mothers of children and reflect, put our hands on deck and speak as one voice cry to God to rescue life in this Cameroon from the crisis ravaging our communities. Can we like women reflect not over food and drinks because there is much we can do? We bring all the actors involved to renounce violence and solve the problem”
Women say the Anglophone crisis is an additional burden to issues like human rights abuses that they have always battled with. Dorothy Tanwani of Aid International – Christian Women of Vision ( AIChrisWOV) NGO spoke of a lady who was chased from her matrimonial home
“A woman of 60 with 6 children with her husband was threatened and sent out of her matrimonial home just because the husband got married to another woman.
This house was built by this woman and husband. This woman does not have a marriage certificate. This is really sad. She claims that they signed their marriage when she was young but never had a copy. She said, It’s her husband who was a civil servant and had to submit that document at his job site. Do know this man says that woman was only a concubine. She has no proof because the Council cannot trace the document” The lady with AIChrisWOV) NGO thinks women have to be conscious
“My advice to women is that they should keep their copy of the marriage certificate. Marriage certificate is the only separate property each spouse has notwithstanding what status they have contracted” She cautioned.
The painful stories are unending. During this crisis women are the most affected IDPs. They still have to toil to feed their families. They are exploited sexually because they have no other choice, they are raped with unplanned pregnancy being recorded, and they are open to HIV, stressed to do what they were not used to doing. Some have given up their dignity to begging, hired domestic servants at any price, hawkers, just to feed her family.
The task now lies on the government, the civil society activists and sundry to initiate a peace talk in order to give a chance to the woman to once more commune for the international women’s day in the real sense of the word celebration.