YAOUNDE, Sept. 4 — Police in Cameroon have vowed to intensify efforts to combat violence against women amid a surge in femicide cases. “We call on women who are victims of violence and witnesses to violence, to reach out to police units.
We want to assure everyone of the firm commitment of the police to end this scourge,” police officer Awa Mandou Kitou told reporters on Thursday in the capital, Yaounde, during a reenactment of the circumstances leading to the death of a woman.
Officials said police have set up a special squad and established hotlines for victims and witnesses to report cases of violence. The measures followed warnings by local NGOs of an “alarming” increase in violence against women.
According to the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and the Family, 60 women were killed across the country between January and August.
On Sunday, Minister of Women’s Empowerment and the Family Marie-Therese Abena Ondoa said the government is working on a legal instrument to criminalize violence against women.(Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
