Close to 500,000 cases of rape are recorded each year in Cameroon. Like a number of countries on the African continent, the victims are forced into silence, while the perpetrators go free due to a lack of evidence.

By Eric Kouamo, Douala

“I was raped by my friend’s boyfriend. One day I went to her house while she was living with him. When I got there my friend was out so he welcomed me in her absence. Suddenly it started raining and he took the opportunity to ask me to undress.”

She continues as tears start to appear on her face: “I resisted...” she continued with a sigh... “then he smacked me, undressed me and raped me. After the attack, he soaked my clothes in a bucket of water and pushed me out of the house. I had to make do with a scrap of tissue attached to the corridor to cover myself until I got home.”

Julie Njissa describes in a trembling voice interrupted by tears, this nightmarish page of her life. She is only now speaking about it six years after the event. She is today 24 years old and working as a saleswomen for a company making milk in Douala.

Silence
“I never told this story before for fear of being mocked. I was scared how my parents would react because I was only 17 years old.” Although several years have passed, Julie's sadness remains. It’s during a conference reuniting victims of rape in Cameroon that she found the courage to tell her story for the first time.

In Africa, victims of rape don’t talk about it. They suffer in silence for fear of stigmatization explains sociologist, François Guebou.

“Families prefer an amicable arrangement to preserve their image. Bringing the problem into the public domain is confused in an African context as an attempt to attack the reputation of the family,” she explains.

Statistics
However, the statistics are frightening. Approximately 500,000 cases of rape are recorded every year in Cameroon.

RENATA (The National Network of Aunties Association) brings together several associations involved in the fight against rape in Cameroon. Their latest report suggests that in almost 8% of cases, victims are infected with a sexually transmitted disease.

Among the perpetrators of rape it is thought that 1% are priests, 4% are teachers and 9% work in the armed forces. Madeleine Eboule, member of the unit SOS VIOL (SOS RAPE), explains that they aim to bring help to victims of rape before they seek justice to prosecute their attackers.

Impunity
According to a lawyer specialising in rape cases, the majority of offenders are released during legal proceedings due to a lack of evidence.

Apollinaire Fotso, lawyer and author of a book about taking control of the medico-legal and juridical treatment of victims of sexual acts in Africa, explains that it is not always necessary to supply proof supporting the accusation.

“The facts unroll in extreme privacy and the victims keep their silence for fear of repraisals. This makes it difficult to deliver certain medical documents. Also, large sums of money are used to subvert justice, condemning the victims to sorrowful silence and injustice."