GBV survivors left to navigate fragmented protection system, AP-WORP finds

Survivors of gender-based violence have often been left to navigate a fragmented protection system on their own, according to findings from consultations conducted by the Association for the Promotion of Women’s Rights and Peace Building (AP-WORP) in the North-West Region of Cameroon.

During Consultations at Mother of Hope Cameroon (MOHCAM)

AP-WORP conducted separate bilateral consultations with 10 organisations between 28 August and 4 September 2026, with its team visiting the organisations at their respective headquarters. The discussions focused on the challenges survivors faced in accessing protection, psychosocial support, referrals and other essential services. The organisations consulted were COMAGEND, Justice and Peace Service Bamenda, Mother of Hope Cameroon (MOHCAM), Community Association for Vulnerable Persons (CAVP), Sustainable Women’s Organisation (SWO), Human Rights Commission Bamenda, YouthForce, CAGEAD, ABBA-GURU and Organisation for Women’s Empowerment and Development (OWED).

The consultations are part of AP-WORP’s UAF Rapid Response Project, which is focusing on psychosocial support, emergency protection, survivor referrals, case management and stronger accountability for women and girls affected by gender-based violence.

AP-WORP Executive Director Munteh Florence Chea said one of the strongest messages emerging from the consultations was that survivors frequently had to move between different services without a sufficiently connected system guiding them.

“Survivors are often left to navigate a fragmented system on their own,” she said.

During Consultations at the Human Rights Commission in Bamenda,

The consultations identified several factors contributing to the problem, including the absence of safe spaces and shelters, limited access to affordable services, an inadequate number of trained professional counsellors and weak referral pathways.

The referral mechanisms that existed were also described as too dependent on individual projects rather than being sufficiently institutionalised.

Munteh Florence said this created a sustainability problem because some services became difficult to access when the projects supporting them ended.

“For survivors, however, protection and justice cannot be dependent on the lifespan of a project,” she said.

The problem is not limited to the availability of individual services. Weak coordination between actors means that a survivor could receive one form of assistance without being effectively connected to the next service required.

The consultations also found that family and community interference could complicate survivors’ efforts to seek assistance and pursue justice.

During consultations at Sustainable Women’s Organisation (SWO)

AP-WORP’s rapid response project is providing psychosocial support, case management, emergency protection and referral assistance. However, the consultations reinforced the need for a wider protection system capable of supporting survivors beyond the initial intervention.

Munteh Florence said the discussions had shown that issues such as safe accommodation, psychosocial care, referrals and justice were closely connected.

“The absence of safe spaces, for example, is not simply a shelter problem,” she said adding that “It affects whether a survivor can safely leave an abusive situation, access psychosocial support, cooperate with justice processes and rebuild her life.”

The consultations therefore sought to identify how existing services could be better connected rather than creating parallel systems.

During consultations at the Center for Advocacy in Gender Equality and Action for Development, CAGEAD

The findings are expected to feed into a protection and accountability brief and a planned high-level protection and accountability engagement involving regional authorities, justice and security actors, government services, civil society and international protection partners.

AP-WORP Executive Directors says the proposed engagement will seek practical measures to strengthen referral and coordination mechanisms, improve survivor protection and explore safe accommodation and emergency shelter arrangements.

The organisation also planned to establish follow-up mechanisms so that agreed actions would have responsible actors and timelines.

According to AP-WORP, the consultations marked a shift from looking at individual gaps in isolation towards examining how the different parts of the protection system worked together.

“The system should be designed around their safety, dignity and rights,” Munteh Florence said.

By Bakah Derick for Hilltopvoices Web

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