Rape is a CRIME!
on The Road Less Travelled (Cameroon), 27/Oct/2010 10:56, 34 days ago
I am lucky in many ways and this past weekend I learned all about how lucky I am to have never been raped and to live in a country where rape support services exist for victims and where clear processes exist to pursue rapists through the criminal justice system. I gained a whole new level of respect for the girls and women of Cameroon who were brave enough to speak out on Saturday bringing awareness to Bamenda about rape. The presentation was put on by GTZ, Renata and IDF.Not only is rape not really openly discussed in Cameroon, but often rape victims are blamed for the rape and have even been abandoned by their families because they have been raped. The presentation on Saturday had the goal of bringing awareness to rape and incest to the people of Bamenda because the number of rapes in Cameroon has been growing exponentially since 1970.In Cameroon 1 out of 20 girls and women have been raped! That is an astounding number and means that there are over 430,000 rape victims right now in Cameroon. Of those raped, 18% or 78,000 were raped by a family member. The average age of a rape victim in Cameroon is 15 years old. Of the 430,000 rape victims, 27% of them have been raped 2 times or more, and 9.4% of them were victims of collective rape."Aunty" volunteers from Renata OrganizationRape can be pursued criminally in Cameroon however the evidence presented showed that this was rarely the case. In fact, of the 430,000 rape victims only:- 32% sought medical attention- 23% obtained a medical certificate- 16% launched a complaint- 7% went to court- 5% resulted in imprisonment for the perpetratorGirls and women who are victims of rape are vulnerable to being infected with sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, and to getting pregnant. In addition, they face social stigma and in certain cases family abandonment.During the presentation, rape victims testified about their experiences which was very difficult for them to do and required bravery beyond my comprehension. The young girls stood up in front of over 400 people and spoke about what happened, how they felt, how they and how were treated after. Many of them broke down during their testimonies which was understandable considering the trauma they went through. Many of the girls spoke about how their parents didn’t believe them after they told them about being rapes, or about how it was their family member (most commonly uncle) who raped them.Public testimonies from rape victimsThe lack of understand of rape generally was apparent in the presentation when the floor was opened to questions. People asked questions such as: Aren’t girls who dress sexily asking to be raped? Don’t girls really mean yes when they say no? And don’t husbands have the right to have sex with their wives even if the wives don’t want to?It is clear that rape is an important issue for Cameroon and even for me personally. Since I am working with an organisation active in the health sector, it is important to understand all issues related to a woman’s reproductive and sexual health. In addition, I live in the region with the second highest incidence of rape, and my neighbourhood more specifically reported between 100 and 150 rapes last year.It is essential girls and women learn about their rights, about how to protect themselves and about the services offered in the case of a violation. Hopefully my work with IDF will ensure this happens.