What should I do if I am experiencing violence?

You are not at fault, and support exists. You can contact Women's Light Foundation confidentially and we will help you identify the services available in your area, including medical care, counselling and legal advice. You decide what happens next — we take no action without your consent, and you do not have to give your name to ask for information.

Is what I tell Women's Light Foundation confidential?

Yes. Confidentiality is one of the core principles of survivor-centred practice that we are bound by under the IASC Guidelines on Gender-Based Violence. Information about a survivor is not shared without their informed consent, and our staff and volunteers are briefed on this before they work with anyone.

Does Women's Light Foundation provide legal representation?

We provide rights awareness, practical guidance and assistance with documentation such as medical certificates, and we refer survivors to legal aid providers. We are not a law firm and do not represent clients in court, but we help survivors reach those who can.

Why does the programme work with men and boys?

Because the social norms that permit violence are held across a whole community, not only by those who commit it. Programmes that engage men and boys as allies show stronger evidence of shifting those norms than programmes working with women alone. Working with traditional and religious leaders, who hold considerable authority over how communities interpret these issues, extends that reach further.

How does economic support reduce violence?

Economic dependence on the person causing harm is among the most frequently cited reasons women remain in violent situations. Savings groups, skills training and start-up support build independence. Savings groups have a second effect that is easy to overlook: they create a regular, trusted gathering of women, which is often one of the few settings where disclosure feels safe.

Gender-Based Violence Prevention & Response

Nearly one in two Cameroonian women has experienced physical or sexual violence. We work to prevent that violence, and to make sure that women and girls who survive it can reach safety, care and justice.

1 in 2

Cameroonian women have experienced physical or sexual violence (DHS)

GBV awareness and survivor support centre: year-one target, not yet open

Connected services the programme is designed to provide

The challenge

Widespread, and largely invisible

Gender-based violence is among the most widespread and least visible development challenges in Cameroon. Demographic and Health Survey findings indicate that nearly one in two Cameroonian women has experienced physical or sexual violence. Intimate partner violence accounts for a substantial share, and early and forced marriage remains prevalent in parts of the country.

Yet the overwhelming majority of incidents never appear in any official record. Understanding the gap between those two facts is essential to responding well — because it tells you that the barrier is rarely awareness. It is access.

Why survivors do not come forward

Stigma, and the fear of being blamed or held responsible for damaging a family's reputation.
Economic dependence on the person causing harm, particularly where a woman has no independent income and children to support.
Distance and transport cost — a health facility or police post several hours away is effectively unavailable.
Direct costs, including medical certificates, which put formal legal processes out of reach.
Low confidence that reporting produces any result, reinforced by cases that went nowhere.
Fear of retaliation, especially where a survivor cannot relocate.

What we do

Seven connected services, because a survivor helped in one dimension and abandoned in another remains at risk.

Safe spaces for survivors

Dedicated, confidential spaces where women and girls can speak without being overheard, meet others, and be connected to the help they choose.

Psychosocial support and counselling

Trained counselling for survivors and their children, delivered on survivor-centred principles: confidentiality, safety, respect and non-discrimination.

Legal aid and rights awareness

Practical guidance on rights under Cameroonian law, assistance obtaining medical certificates and documentation, and referral to legal support.

Case management and referral pathways

A documented map of where a survivor can obtain medical care, psychosocial support, legal advice and safety — with agreed procedures for moving between them.

Community sensitisation on gender norms

Dialogue with communities, traditional authorities and religious leaders on the norms that make violence permissible, and on what changes when they shift.

Engaging men and boys as allies

Programmes that involve men and boys directly show stronger evidence of changing norms than those addressing women alone, because the norms are held community-wide.

Survivor economic reintegration

Skills training, savings group membership and start-up support, so that leaving a violent situation does not mean choosing destitution.

Who we serve

Who this programme is for

Priority goes to those with the fewest alternatives — women whose economic position, location or status leaves them least able to reach help on their own.

Women and girls at risk of, or affected by, gender-based violence
Survivors seeking medical, psychosocial, legal or safety support
Single mothers and women heading households alone
Young women and adolescent girls
Girls in rural and underserved communities
Internally displaced women and women in host communities
Women with disabilities, who face compounded barriers to every service

How we work

All GBV programming follows recognised international standards. This is not a formality: survivor-centred practice means the survivor decides what happens next, and pressuring someone to report, or disclosing their situation without consent, causes real harm and deters others from coming forward.

IASC Guidelines on Gender-Based Violence
Core Humanitarian Standard
Do No Harm
PSEA — mandatory for all staff, volunteers and partners
CEDAW
Maputo Protocol
Confidential Community Accountability and Reporting Mechanism

What we are working towards

Targets drawn from our organisational framework, with the horizon against which we will report progress.

Year 1 Establish one GBV awareness and survivor support centre serving women and girls.
Year 1 Conduct participatory needs assessments in at least five target communities in the Northwest and Southwest Regions.
Years 2–3 Establish functioning GBV referral pathways linking survivors to health, legal and psychosocial services.
Years 2–3 Publish research or advocacy reporting on gender-based violence in Cameroon.
Years 4–7 Achieve measurable improvements in GBV awareness, survivor support and reporting rates in target communities.
Years 4–7 Influence national policy on gender-based violence through evidence-based advocacy.

Help us reach the women who cannot reach us

A safe space, a counsellor, transport to a clinic, a medical certificate — the barriers are practical, and so are the solutions.

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