Elisabeth Mosima
1 October 2007
Over 1000 widows are maltreated in Cameroon.
«When my husband died I was asked to leave my husband's house for the family house. I was not allowed to take part in the burial. I stayed for seven days without taking a bath. I was not allowed to wash my hands. I ate from a broken container and drank from a similar container .." This testimony of Mama Jeannette from Bamendou in Menoua Division and others sent cold shivers down the spine of sympathisers during a sensitisation campaign on widowhood rites in Yaounde last Saturday.
The theme of the campaign was, "Together Let's Humanise Widowhood Rites in Cameroon." Organised by the Committee for the Assistance of Needy Women in Cameroon (CAFENEC), the event brought together women's groups from the West and Centre Provinces of the country. Widows in most parts of Cameroon are battered, chased out of the matrimonial homes, raped or made to suffer other forms of torture. It is for this reason that a campaign to sensitise the population on the need to humanise widowhood rites is going on in the country.
The objective of the campaign is to sensitise Cameroonians on the negative effects of such hideous and humiliating practices and to find ways of reducing the sufferings of widows. Speaking during the occasion, the President of CAFENEC, Lydienne Nkaleu, said women in general and widows in particular are marginalised. As a result men and women hide behind tradition and culture to torture, exploited and use them as tools. She expressed the wish that the government, international organisations and the civil society should work towards the improvement of the living conditions and especially the social protection of widows. She also expressed the wish that CAFENEC and widows could rely on the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and the Family for solutions to women's problems in general and widows especially with the advent of the family code.
Since the launching of the campaign on the humanisation of widowhood rites in the country, CAFENEC has registered a total of 1843 complaints in which women are battered, maltreated, chased out of their matrimonial homes or raped. Created in 2001, CAFENEC is an apolitical association working for the improvement of the living conditions of needy women and young girls in the society.
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