title: Sexual Abuse in Cameroon: A Four-Year-Old Girl Victim of Rape in Buea Case Study.
abstract: A young girl was brought to the emergency unit after suffering sexual abuse by an older male. Additional abuses against women and girls include physical beating, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, breast ironing, widow's rites, psychological abuse, and discrimination in education, finance, employment, and legal access. Cameroon has adopted strategies aimed at eliminating violence against women, including ratification of international policies, penal codes, and support of local and international efforts that promote women; however, many of the laws remain in name only and are rarely enforced, given women's lack of financial access to quality lawyers and an unsympathetic male-dominated police force. Underreporting and culturally accepted abuses remain a challenge, too, as the country seeks to understand the extent of abuses and how to effectively fight against them. A complete paradigm shift in cultural attitude toward the female gender is required for abuses to cease.
authors: a Mount Mary Hospital , Diocese of Buea , Buea , Cameroon.
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Chishugi
authors: b Department of Medicine , Buea Seventh-day Adventist Health Centre , Buea , Cameroon.
authors: Trixy
authors: T
authors: Franke
mesh_terms: D002163:Cameroon / Q000208:ethnology; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans
keywords: Cameroon; child sexual abuse; rape; sexual violence; violence against women