Support our Gender-Based Violence Advocacy and Empowerment Initiative

Your donations will be used to Create awareness of gender-based violence (GBV) through theater and graphic arts displays; Set up a task force to respond, assist, and provide (legal, health, psychosocial, and humanitarian) solutions to victims and survivors; and provide economic empowerment (online marketing platform, interest-free loans, basic business skills training, basic production training) to survivors of GBV.

Survivors of GBV may face a wider range of challenges from health to socio-economic challenges. Many suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, substance misuse, self-harm, suicidal behavior, and sleep disturbances. In some cases, they may suffer from stigma and rejection from their families with very little means to seek help or receive support.

Some studies have shown that in Cameroon, the situation of gender-based violence persists due to some socio-cultural norms, lack of awareness by women of their rights, unavailability of concrete guidance on how to report violence, and lack of survivors-centered response services. In the case of GBV, putting in place a safety program may be helpful to assist and support survivors until they can pick back the pieces of their lives.

In Cameroon, UNFPA Cameroon representative Mrs Siti Batoul Oussein indicated that 62% of survey respondents noticed changes in GBV trends since the outbreak of COVID-19, with the main GBV risk being domestic violence and sex for survival. 55% of respondents lamented the lack of post-rape kits in their health facilities. These trends are added to an already critical humanitarian situation in particular to armed conflicts in the South West, North West, and Far North Regions of Cameroon. (UNFPA WCARO – July 9, 2020).