Every year women in Cameroon join their counterpart worldwide to celebrate the International Day of the Woman on March 8th. This annual celebration is often faced with debate from different schools of thought. While women consider March 8th as a time of reckoning when they send messages across the international community on their plight, their male counterpart see this as a mere celebration and nothing to write home about.
On the average, approximately fifty three percent of the population in Cameroon is made up of women. This is a reasonable percentage that can contribute to the well-being and emancipation of women. Unfortunately for generations their cry has been the same “emancipation”. If emancipation is anything to go by, it should first be demonstrated by the women themselves. They need to free themselves from ordained cultures that some claim was handed to them by their ancestors and should never be stopped. The practice of female genital mutilation is widely condemned in Cameroon but this practice is widely perpetuated by women in some local communities. Women in Cameroon have failed to identify themselves as a collective entity that can fight for change and bridge the gap existing between men and women. The agricultural sector in Cameroon is dominated by women. They are involved in farming and the marketing of farm products. Women in Cameroon have been behind the peaceful co-existence of the country that has made Cameroon to gain the appellation “Island of Peace” . Every household is able to put food on the table thanks to the relentless efforts of women who toil and work every day under the hot sun, rain, and stormy weather. Women in Cameroon are blessed with such virtues, why can’t they use this position to make Cameroon a country of equality where women will hold high positions in government and other national institutions same as their male counterpart? Laws in Cameroon are quiet flexible and women are free to get to higher heights if they meet the requirements. Unfortunately it is the same group of women who will rally against their female folk who endeavor to represent them in parliament; the same women will oppose other women who put up their candidatures as party leaders to represent them in an election; the list is endless. Charity begins at home and until women realize they need to start thinking and acting responsibly in issues that surround their own sex, then the cry for emancipation will never be anything to write home.
The African culture gives an upper hand to men to decide on the well-being of the family and children. This belief is still very strong especially in the Muslim community in Cameroon. The boy child in the Muslim community in Cameroon is suited to guard animals while the girl child is designed to be given out for marriage in the early stages of her life even without the consent of the mother. This practice is deeply imbedded in such communities that women are relegated to the background and at all times answerable to their husbands. This has frustrated most young girls who finally end up in big cities as street prostitutes. Early marriages have therefore made most women to have the conviction that emancipation is more of a fallacy than something real. These are the kind of issues men expect their women to address and fight for during international celebrations. Unfortunately the reputation of International day celebrations in Cameroon has been very disappointing. It is on such days that women get drunk, fornicate and even threatened divorce from their spouses. If this reputation is real, then the men have a strong point to argue that if women are given the same equal rights and opportunities they have been demanding, then family relations will be further weakened and the number of street children especially girls will be countless.
In a bit to draw a line of equality between men and women, both parties need to stay away from the blame game and create a common ground of understanding. Statistics reveals that suspicion is one of the main issues that have created inequality between men and women in Cameroon. At any moment the woman is given an upper hand to manage certain issues, she automatically becomes too vibrant and violent making it difficult for comprehensive agreements to come into play. For example divorce rates are increasing in some communities because the salaries of men and women have become too competitive than it used to be. Making a sound judgment, this should not be a point of discord because the world economy has been and is still undergoing changes that resources need to be assembled and the fundamental success of this begins from a comprehensive family responsibility.
Women emancipation should not in any way be a dividing factor in Cameroon but should create a forum where men and women share their common values and work towards a future that undermines the harmful effects of culture and embrace a culture that overrides the challenges of globalization that has been further compounded by the acceleration of the new information and communication technology.Women should put into effect their inbuild talents and become real representatives of their communities. International NGOs are willing to work with those groups of women who are able to represent the voiceless and promote local ownership which has been identified as an approporiate tool to get people in the grassroots become more engage in their own development. The government on its part should create structures that will help women become self sufficient and build the fundamental values of their rights. Such structures will make the women feel concern and instead of agitating for their rights, they will work to find common grounds to build and strengthen the already existing institutions for the good of the society.
Written by Nfor Canicius
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