Nana Wu
NAIROBI — For over a decade, the Cameroonian government has held itself out as a nation committed to the protection of its citizens, specifically pledging in 2011 to slash the prevalence of gender-based violence (GBV) by half. Yet, a harrowing new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) reveals that these commitments have remained hollow rhetoric. The 75-page investigation, titled “I Live in Constant Peril,” paints a devastating portrait of a state where institutional apathy, archaic legal frameworks, and entrenched systemic discrimination have left women and girls in a state of perpetual, state-sanctioned vulnerability.
As the administration of President Paul Biya enters its fifth decade of uninterrupted power, the report serves as a scathing indictment of a government that has failed to enact the most basic legislative reforms necessary to safeguard half of its population.
The Anatomy of the Crisis: Main Facts
The findings of the HRW report, based on research conducted between September and December 2024, are as systemic as they are disturbing. Researchers interviewed 60 survivors of domestic violence across the cities of Maroua, Douala, and Buea, alongside local religious leaders and social service officials.
The report documents that violence in Cameroon is rarely an isolated event. It is a strategic tool of control. Women are routinely subjected to physical, psychological, and economic abuse, primarily at the hands of husbands and intimate partners. Crucially, the abuse is not merely interpersonal; it is facilitated by a legal and social architecture that prioritizes the authority of the "head of the household"—the husband—over the fundamental human rights of the wife.
The economic dimension of this violence is particularly stark. Women reported having their business leases sabotaged, their property sold without consent, and their work equipment destroyed. By systematically stripping women of their financial autonomy—denying them access to land, independent income, and social security—abusers ensure their victims are trapped, unable to flee or survive outside the confines of an abusive marriage.
A Chronology of Neglect
The timeline of Cameroon’s failure to address this crisis is one of long-term stagnation.
- 2011: The Cameroonian government makes a high-profile international commitment to cut the prevalence of gender-based violence in half.
- 2004–2024: For over 20 years, a draft of a modernized, gender-sensitive Family Code—a critical piece of legislation intended to align Cameroonian law with international human rights standards—has languished in bureaucratic limbo.
- The Biya Era: Having governed for more than 40 years, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) and President Paul Biya bear singular responsibility for this legislative inertia. The lack of progress is not due to a changing of the guard, but rather a consistent, multi-decade refusal to prioritize women’s rights.
- Present Day: Cameroon remains without a national policy or comprehensive guidelines on domestic violence, leaving survivors to navigate a patchwork of biased local customs and ineffective policing.
Supporting Data and Personal Narratives
The HRW report exposes the chilling reality of what happens when a survivor attempts to seek justice. The data reveals a culture of impunity that starts at the precinct level.
The Institutional Barrier
When survivors approach the police, they are frequently met with mockery, dismissal, or pressure to reconcile. The report highlights the case of Yvonne D., a 54-year-old data processor from Douala. When she reported her husband’s violence to the police, the officer reportedly laughed and exclaimed, “Truly! Women!” Rather than receiving protection, Yvonne returned home to find her husband, emboldened by the knowledge that the law would not intervene, beat her severely in front of their children and evicted her from their home.
The "Family Matter" Fallacy
Rosalind E., a 44-year-old hairdresser in Buea, was told by a female police commissioner to "drop the case because it is a family matter." This framing—that domestic violence is a private, domestic dispute rather than a human rights violation—is the bedrock upon which the culture of impunity is built. Even when abusers are arrested, prosecutors frequently abandon cases if the perpetrator proves uncooperative, signaling to the public that violence against women is a low-priority crime with no consequences.
Economic Dispossession
Beyond physical violence, the report documents the systematic seizure of property. Women face legal and social barriers that allow male relatives, brothers, and in-laws to seize land and property, even when the women possess legal title. This structural discrimination extends into widowhood, where women are intimidated into relinquishing their rights to property, leaving them destitute and dependent on the very individuals who have abused them.
Official Responses and Institutional Failure
The response from state authorities has been described as "ill-equipped" and "uncoordinated." There is currently no national system for collecting data on gender-based violence, including the incidence of femicide. By failing to track these crimes, the government effectively renders the victims invisible.
When asked for comment or regarding the status of the long-delayed Family Code, officials have historically provided little more than bureaucratic excuses. The absence of a coordinated response means that social services, healthcare providers, and judicial officers operate in silos, none of which are trained to handle the complexities of domestic abuse. This lack of a survivor-centered approach is not an accident; it is the natural outcome of a legal framework that still legally designates the husband as the primary manager of matrimonial property and the final arbiter of household decisions.
Implications for the Future
The implications of this inaction are profound. By failing to uphold its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the African Union’s Maputo Protocol, Cameroon is in clear violation of international law.
A Call for Urgent Reform
Juliana Nnoko, senior women’s rights adviser at Human Rights Watch, emphasized the urgency of the situation: "The government urgently needs laws, policies, and services that reflect the realities of domestic violence, prioritize prevention, and support survivors in accessing justice."
The path forward, according to human rights advocates, requires four immediate actions:
- Legislative Overhaul: The immediate adoption and implementation of the long-delayed Family Code to replace outdated, discriminatory statutes.
- National Coordination: The establishment of a unified national response policy that mandates training for police, judges, and healthcare providers.
- Economic Protection: Legal reform to ensure that women have independent rights to property, land, and employment, regardless of their marital status.
- Data Transparency: Creating a national, disaggregated database to track GBV, ensuring that the scale of the violence is visible to both the public and policymakers.
The Cost of Inaction
The cost of this ongoing neglect is measured in lives lost, families shattered, and a generation of women deprived of their basic human rights. When a state refuses to acknowledge domestic violence as a crime, it essentially grants permission for it to continue. As the report concludes, being a woman in Cameroon today carries the constant, pervasive threat of violence—a reality that the state has both the power and the obligation to change.
The government’s silence on this issue for over 40 years is no longer a matter of policy—it is a choice. For the women interviewed by Human Rights Watch, the choice they are waiting for is one that finally recognizes their right to live without fear, to own property, and to be treated as equal citizens under the law. Until those reforms are enacted, the "constant peril" described in the report will remain the defining feature of life for millions of Cameroonian women.
Lina Hope
Suro Senen
