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Cameroon pledged to halve gender-based violence by 2026. That deadline has arrived, and the government has fallen far short. Credit: ShutterstockBLOOMFIELD, United States, July 9 (IPS) - In Cameroon’s Far North region, Adiza, a 57-year-old woman had spent nearly three decades confined to her home by her husband. She was not allowed to leave, receive visitors, or speak with non-family members. When she disobeyed, he beat her.
Rosaline, a 44-year-old hairdresser in the southwestern region, went to work at her hair salon and found all her equipment gone. Her husband of 16 years had sold everything and cancelled the lease without consulting her. He also sold land they had jointly acquired.
These stories are not unique. While some laws exist to protect women, serious legal gaps and weak enforcement leave many women without protection.
A new Human Rights Watch new report, I Live in Constant Peril, examines the prevalence and dynamics of violence against women, particularly domestic violence, how it manifests as economic violence, and the structural discrimination that enables it.
Government awareness campaigns and rhetoric are not enough. The government has failed to reform discriminatory laws, strengthen government institutions to prevent violence, or invest in public services that could help women escape abuse.
A law against domestic violence is essential but alone will not end that violence as long as the broader legal framework continues to grant husbands authority over their wives and treats men as the default owners of marital property.
The most recent official data was collected in 2018, but found that nearly 4 in 10 women and girls in Cameroon who had been in a relationship experienced physical, sexual, psychological and economic violence in their lifetime. The figure rises to 64 percent in Cameroon’s Centre Region, excluding Yaounde. In 2024 Government officials counted at least 77 women killed by current or former partners, and they believe the real number is higher. These figures do not reflect a country where violence against women is being taken seriously.
Cameroon’s Civil Code still designates husbands as the heads of household and primary administrators of marital property.Husbands have the right to decide the family’s place of residence and can stop their wives from seeking employment or running a business in the interest of the family.
In cases we documented, one husband told his wife to quit her job and asked her employer to fire her; multiple husbands ransacked and destroyed the businesses their wives had built themselves claiming the wife didn’t obtain their permission; some confiscated their wife’s earnings, or filled their home with relatives, depleting any profit or savings from the wife’s business.
Women in long-term consensual relationships, commonly known as “cam we stay” or “viens on reste” in Cameroon, discovered that they had no legal protections, and when those relationships ended, that they had no legal standing .
A draft Family Code has remained stalled between ministries for more than 20 years without reaching the National Assembly. Completing it is not a question of complexity but of political will.
Women who report abuse encounter a fragmented system. Poor coordination between government agencies, police, courts and social services creates additional barriers to protection and justice.
Instead of receiving support, women are often told to reconcile, blamed for the abuse, or see cases dismissed when perpetrators have influence. Many stop reporting because they believe doing so will only increase the violence.
Leaving an abusive relationship is far harder for women who are economically dependent on their husbands. Most women in Cameroon work in the informal economy, often in low paid and insecure jobs without contracts and employment protections, while also carrying the bulk of unpaid care and household work. Social security coverage is extremely limited.
This lack of protection has serious consequences. Cameroon inaugurated its first One-Stop Centre for survivors of violence in Yaounde in 2025, but one center is insufficient. Legal aid also remains difficult to access because of lack of information, bureaucracy and delays, corruption risks, leaving many women without a safe path out of abuse.
Over the last 15 years, Cameroon has touted a commitment to reduce gender-based violence, with a 2022 target to cut it in half by 2026. That deadline is now. The government has not come close.
Cameroon pledged to halve gender-based violence by 2026. That deadline has arrived, and the government has fallen far short. It should urgently reform discriminatory laws, adopt the Family Code, establish a coordinated national response to domestic violence, and ensure women can access the services they need to live safely and independently.
Stacey-Leigh Manuel is deputy women’s rights director at Human Rights Watch
© Inter Press Service (20260709180315) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service
