Ambassador
Remarks of Ambassador Janet E. Garvey at the Violence Against Women workshop in Buea
July 18, 2008
Barrister Fomukong, members of ISANG, workshop participants:
Thank you for inviting me here today to be with you. I had planned to be at the workshop in Bamenda, but because of the crisis in Chad, the embassy evacuated its personnel and over 50,000 Chadians sought safety in Cameroon. Not only am I glad that things have calmed down for our neighbors to the North, I am very pleased to be a part of this important workshop.
This is my first visit to Buea. I understand it is known as the Chariot of God, and I can see why it is called that. Your surroundings are very beautiful and calm.
Unfortunately, we are here today to discuss a subject that casts a shadow over the serenity of our surroundings. Violence against women is one of the greatest challenges facing societies around the world today. The United Nations defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women. This is also the threat of coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether the action occurs in public or in your private life."
It also comprises physical, sexual, and psychological violence that occurs within the family, including battery, sexual abuse of children, dowry-related violence, rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal violence, and violence related to exploitation. How many of you have been a victim of sexual harassment or intimidation in the workplace where women must submit to someone to get a job, a raise, or promotion that they rightfully deserve. Also, how many of your daughters have had to submit to STM -- sexually transmitted marks -- a professor’s demands in order for her to be admitted to class or receive the marks she deserves. What about those poor women who want a decent job to take care of their children and family but are tricked into being trafficked to another city, country and forced into prostitution?
The first step to fighting violence is to learn how to identify it. Thank you Barrister Fomulkong for doing just this in your first program today titled “What is Violence Against Women and How to Identify It.”
Statistics regarding the suffering of women are both shocking and sad:
- In every country where reliable, large-scale studies have been conducted, results indicate that between 10% and 50% of women report they have been physically abused by a partner;
- Violence against women was the tenth leading cause of death for women 15-44 years of age in 1998;
- women are at greatest risk of violence from men they know;
- physical abuse in intimate relationships is almost always accompanied by severe psychological and verbal abuse;
- government social institutions put in place to protect citizens too often blame or ignore battered women.
There are serious consequences for the physical and mental health of those affected. Abused women are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, eating problems, and sexual dysfunctions. Violence may affect the reproductive health of women through unplanned pregnancies and STDs, including HIV/AIDS. Children who witness their mothers abused often become victims or abusers themselves, thus continuing the cycle of abuse and violence.
These acts against women and children are a drain on the economic productivity of women and generate a climate of fear and insecurity. Violence relegates women to a second-class status that denies them the opportunity to fully participate in their communities.
The good news is that progress is being made. Organizations such as ISANG exist to help combat this problem, and your presence here today is an important step to understand the roots of abuse and the means for fighting it. Through education and empowerment, women such as yourselves -- women of sweeping change -- can turn the tide in the struggle against violence. The key to success is to take the information you learn here today back to your communities and help teach other victims of abuse that they are not alone.
Thank you for the work you do and I look forward to continued partnerships together in the future. Be the agent of change, make a difference to yourself, your neighbors and teach your children their civic rights.
Thank you and good luck.