OpenForum – a blog by the Health and Human Rights community

A new campaign in Cameroon is seeking to bring more attention to sexual violence against women by encouraging survivors of rape to talk openly about their experiences. This campaign, led by the German development group GTZ, focuses on raising awareness of rape and incest, subjects rarely discussed publicly. GTZ estimates that as many as 432,000 women and girls were raped in Cameroon in the past 20 years, one out of five by a family member. To address this widespread violence, the campaign’s opening ceremony in the capital Yaoundé featured approximately 200 rape survivors; many of these women and girls publicly shared their stories. It is hoped that more open and public discussions of the experience and consequences of rape will shift societal views that tend to trivialize sexual assault.

The African women’s organization Akina Mama wa Afrika, which means “solidarity among women” in Swahili, met recently in Kampala to discuss new efforts to prevent violence against women in conflict and post-conflict areas of Africa. This group is seeking to improve legal and judicial systems to better protect the rights of women. They believe improved documentation of women’s experiences is the first step, as there is a critical lack of statistics surrounding these crimes. “Shame constrains many women’s actions,” says Annie Chikwanha, Senior Fellow at the African Human Security Initiative Institute of Security Studies. “Most times you have to seek permission of men to access the woman’s voice. Men insist on listening to the conversation. So the women feel constrained…” Instead, Chikwanha says, “it is women who suffer these atrocities so they should talk about them instead of a third party who can distort the information…let us empower women with skills to have these experiences documented.” Read more