Women Resolve To Fight Rape, Child Trafficking

By Peterkins Manyong

A group of Northwest women has demanded the end to rape and trafficking of the girl child.

Women:Often victims of sociatal ills 

The women came strong against the practices at the end of a three-day workshop that empowered them with knowledge to combat HIV/AIDS and poverty.

The Cameroon Grassroots Women Educational, Economic and Social Advancement network, CAGWEESA, organised the workshop in Bamenda to empower some 60 women to battle such issues as HIV/AIDS, rights to own land and inheritance, and also to promote reproductive and family health.

Being empowered, the women resolved to create community watchdogs to monitor and report cases of land and women's rights' abuse. They also agreed to promote family reproductive health, rights and demanded an end to rape and all forms of sexual exploitation and trafficking in women and children.

Resource people at the workshop sensitised the participants on the impact of HIV/AIDS, health, income-generation as well as their right to own land and develop it.Opening the workshop, Veronica Kini, CAGWEESA Coordinator told the women to empower themselves. She said CAGWEESA gives them voice and visibility to unseen women. 

The aim of the seminar, she said, was to build the capacity of the women to take issues related to HIV/AIDS as well as empower them economically to fight poverty and improve on food security to feed themselves and children.

It was revealed that, among other things, the spread of HIV/AIDS is also caused by certain traditional practices.One of the resource people, John Morfaw, identified inheriting widows and sexual promiscuity during funeral ceremonies with the excuse of "looking for a replacement for the dead person" as practices that promotes HIV/AIDS.

The women were also groomed on how to take care of HIV/AIDS patients.A lawyer, Batholow Fofung, drilled the women on will writing and the importance of birth and marriage certificates in the process of inheritance of their husbands' property.

On his part, Dr. Alphonse Nfi of IRZ Bamenda, however, cautioned the women against imported models, reminding them that as mothers they are already empowered naturally. 
Besides the training on HIV/AIDS, the women were taught how to produce soap and process valuable food stuff.