WUNRN
Press Release/16 Days of Activism Campaign
Dignity Television Starts National Conversation on ‘Safe Schools 4
Girls’ in Cameroon
November
20, 2014 - As part of activities marking this year’s
16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence under the theme: ‘From
Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End
Gender-Based Violence’, Dignity Television, an open web tv platform created
by A Common Future organization to stream testimonies of victims of human
rights violations has decided to contribute its own quota by starting a
conversation with local, regional and national stakeholders in Cameroon on the
very thorny issue of safety of women and girls in public places, namely,
schools. The urgency of the conversation has been informed by the increasing
number of incidences of various forms of violence in school or on the way to
and from school.
The objective of this national conversation is to see how schools
in Cameroon today are safe places for girls and whether issues of rape, sexual harassment
and bullying, behavour, safeguarding and child protection are addressed in
everyday planning and other parts of the curriculum as well as in school
policies. It is common knowledge here that violence and abuse of girls
and young women is far more widespread than is commonly thought and has a
serious impact on students’ attainment. Deeply concerned about the safety of
girls both at school and outside school, Dignity Television/A Common Future
seek to bring to the forefront of public consciousness the silent fact that sexual bullying and harassment
are routine in schools in Cameroon and even more worrying, almost one in
three 12-18 year-old girls say they have experienced ‘groping’ and other
unwanted sexual touching at school. As if that’s not enough, one
in every three teenage girls has experienced sexual violence or rape from a
partner.
End Violence against Women Coalition raises
the following concerns about safety of girls in schools: ‘We hear a lot about
the pressures on our local schools to raise academic standards and improve
behaviour, but what are they doing to ensure that girls are safe between their
walls and that boys know the lines they must not cross?’
Supporting the case for safe schools, Amnesty International holds
that: ‘Schools are places for children to
learn and grow. But many girls all over the world go to school fearing for
their safety. Though both girls and boys of school age can be the victims of
violence, girls are more likely to be the victims of gender-based violence,
particularly sexual abuse and violence’.
They conclude that: ‘Generally
this kind of violence against girls is not reported, the perpetrators are not
punished and measures are not taken to prevent it from recurring. As a result,
countless girls are kept out of school, drop out, or do not fully participate
in school’.
The unwelcoming environment rather becomes an irony as it appears
increased efforts to send girls to school actually means exposing them to
violence and victimization. In schools, girls are fondled, verbally degraded,
or raped in toilets, dormitories, empty classrooms, or as they walk to and from
school. The perpetrators are often people perceived to be in positions of
power, including teachers, community figures, or older and bigger students. The
costs include psychological scars, unwanted pregnancies, exposure to HIV and
other sexually transmitted infections, physical injury, and trauma. The
situation is also compounded by the fact that demoralizing physical and
psychological abuse often begins at home, is reinforced in the community, and
continues in the classroom. Be it at school or in the wider community, such
violence spreads under cover of silence and fear. In Cameroon, gender-based
violence affects not only enrollment, but retention and the educational
experience of girls also.
Given that schools have a
critical role to play in helping young people to develop healthy attitudes and
behaviours, as well as identifying and supporting young people at risk of and
experiencing abuse, our conversation is intended to ignite the process of
social change in the school milieu and by extension, the community. With the
help of questionnaires, Dignity Television staff would interview school
authorities, students, community leaders, parent/teachers Association
executives as well as teachers trade union leaders on what obtains in schools
and on how they can help improve students safety and support. The conversation
is intended to identify any gaps in policies and practice. All the interviews
would be streamed on Dignity Television, free at point of entry and point of
exit.
The interviews would be done
in conjunction with letters to Head Teachers and Principals on the situation of
School Related Gender-Base Violence, SRGBV. Given that Cameroon parliament is
currently in session, we shall also use the occasion of the 16 Days Campaign to
write to MPs and Senators to either ask questions to concerned education
ministers during this session or engage their local constituents on making
public spaces safe for women and girls. After this initial survey stage,
Dignity Television/A Common Future intends to source funding to engage in
aggressive education and sensitization on Safe schools for girls across schools
and communities in Cameroon from January 2015 using community theater,
traveling film festivals and stand-up comedy.
In conjunction with 16
Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, Dignity Television
shall throughout the 16 Days and beyond stream results of surveys on how
welcoming or unwelcoming Cameroon schools are to girls especially in relation
to school-related gender-based violence, SRGBV. The aim of this campaign is to
implement the 16 Days Campaign recommendations which are:
- Document
and publicize instances of violations against human rights defenders,
journalists, indigenous and marginalized groups;
-Engage with members of
your community and with policymakers who are willing to listen and who work at
the local, national, international and other influential levels to make ending
gender-based violence a priority and success marker for national development;
-Strengthen and support
the work of Women Human Rights Defenders and demand accountability from State
and non-State perpetrators of violence through national, regional, and
international mechanisms;
-Build local and
international awareness by writing and speaking on the occurrence and stigma of
sexual violence or use your skills to heighten the sense of urgency around
sexual violence in community; and
-Encourage conversation on
intimate partner violence with family, friends, and community members in order
to remove stigma, protect, and support those who report it.
Gwain Colbert/Dountio Relindis
Co-Founders: Dignity Television/A Common Future
Bamenda-Cameroon
Email: acommonfuture1@yahoo.com
Tel: 237 [6] 77 85 24 76/ 237 [6] 94 94 28 78
Website: www.freetocharities.org.uk/acf