Survivors of gender-based violence in the North-West Region of Cameroon continue to encounter a fragmented protection and justice system, with gaps in referrals, safe accommodation, medical care, psychosocial support and case follow-up leaving many to navigate critical services largely on their own.
The concerns came into focus in Bamenda on Thursday, September 24, as the Association for the Promotion of Women’s Rights and Peace Building (AP-WORP) convened a high-level regional dialogue on survivor-centred protection, justice and accountability for women and girls in the North-West Region.
Held under the theme “from voices to action,” the dialogue brought together regional authorities, public administrators, police and other security actors, lawyers, civil society organisations, humanitarian and development partners, religious leaders, and women and youth representatives to examine how the protection system responds after a survivor reports violence.
Speaking during the opening, AP-WORP Executive Director Munteh Florence Chea explained that the dialogue represented the culmination of months of bilateral consultations with organisations working across protection, human rights, justice, women’s rights, peacebuilding and disability inclusion.
She said the consultations had allowed AP-WORP to move beyond identifying problems to examining how the different parts of the response system connect, where they break down and what could be done to improve the experience of survivors.
“The dialogue allowed stakeholders to listen, examine gaps, take responsibility and identify practical actions,” she said.
The consultations found that survivors needed more than an avenue to report abuse. They needed a functioning system capable of connecting emergency protection and safety with safe accommodation, medical and post-rape care, psychosocial and mental health support, access to justice, reliable referrals, case follow-up and accountability.
Participants identified fragmented coordination, weak information sharing, limited institutional continuity and dependence on short-term projects as among the factors undermining that response.
The result, AP-WORP argued, was a system in which a survivor could receive initial assistance at one point but struggle to move safely and effectively through the next stages of protection, healthcare, psychosocial support or justice.
According to AP-WORP, the answer was not another isolated intervention, but stronger coordination between the institutions already responsible for different aspects of survivor protection.
.png)
Munteh Florence Chea presenting consultation findings
The organisation called for clearer referral pathways, defined institutional responsibilities, stronger follow-up mechanisms and regular coordination among civil society, health, justice, protection and security actors.
It also stressed the importance of safe accommodation and emergency protection for survivors who face continued threats or pressure after reporting violence.
The two structured panels examined the issues from different but interconnected perspectives.
The first focused on legal and policy frameworks, institutional coordination, and survivor-centred protection and response. The second examined justice and accountability, including barriers survivors encounter when attempting to pursue cases through formal mechanisms.
.png)
Panelists and some personalities at the dialogue
Participants considered the role of women-led and frontline organisations in regional protection structures.
Speaking across the two high-level panels and interactions, participants spoke of families allegedly pressuring rape survivors to accept amicable settlements instead of pursuing legal justice. Concerns were also raised about cases in which law enforcement officers allegedly failed to treat reports of abuse with the seriousness they required.
The discussions further raised allegations of lawyers prioritising financial interests over the pursuit of justice and concerns that some vulnerable survivors were required to pay substantial sums before obtaining medico-legal certificates from health facilities.
These concerns were raised as part of the dialogue’s wider examination of barriers to justice and were not presented as universal practices across the institutions concerned.
.png)
The discussions therefore shifted attention from the familiar call for survivors to “break the silence” towards the responsibilities of institutions once that silence had been broken.
According to AP-WORP, reporting violence should open the door to protection, justice and healing rather than expose survivors to further punishment, intimidation, financial hardship or institutional neglect.
The dialogue has called for structured engagement that would allow civil society and women-led groups to contribute to protection and coordination processes while respecting confidentiality and legitimate security and institutional mandates.
Representing the Governor of the North-West Region, Marceliout Djunang, Head of the Economic, Social and Cultural Affairs Division at the Governor’s Office, commended AP-WORP for initiating the dialogue and emphasised the responsibility of government to protect women and girls.
He also urged civil society organisations to develop areas of specialisation and strengthen collaboration with state institutions in addressing protection concerns.
.png)
Marceliout Djunang, Head of the Economic, Social and Cultural Affairs Division at the Governor’s Office addressing the dialogue
The dialogue identified six interconnected areas requiring sustained attention: protection, justice, accountability, reliable referrals, meaningful participation of women, and inclusive locally coordinated protection mechanisms.
Rather than treating these as separate challenges, participants were encouraged to consider them as parts of one survivor-centred response system.
The process was framed around a progression from voices to evidence, dialogue, commitment, action and follow-up, reflecting the approach of AP-WORP of listening to stakeholders, analysing gaps and translating findings into institutional engagement.
.png)
The organisation said the ultimate measure of the process would not be the number of meetings held, but whether survivors could obtain timely protection, appropriate services and access to justice without having to navigate disconnected systems alone.
With the regional dialogue, AP-WORP placed the responsibility for closing those gaps before a wider group of actors, including public authorities, security and justice institutions, health workers, civil society organisations, humanitarian and development partners, community leaders, women and youth representatives.
By Bakah Derick for Hilltopvoices Web
Tel: +237 694 71 85 77
0 Comments