YouthFORCE in Cameroon share how they are leading a movement to support survivors of sexual violence and ensure access to safe, legal abortion care in conflict settings.
In the heart of Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions, a silent crisis unfolds. The Northwest, ravaged by an ongoing eight-year armed conflict, has left many communities in ruins. Amid the destruction, one group bears an especially heavy burden—adolescent girls.
As the conflict continues, many girls flee to the West and South regions seeking refuge. However, their suffering does not end with displacement. As schools shut down and livelihoods disappear, these young girls face an escalating crisis of conflict-related sexual violence. The numbers are staggering: the United Nations reported 4,300 cases of gender-based violence in 2020 alone. Nearly half of these cases involved sexual violence. The conflict has trapped young women and girls in cycles of gender-based violence, survival sex, sex trafficking, and sexual assault. A tragic but frequent outcome of this violence is unwanted pregnancies, leaving young women with few options and little hope.
Too often, humanitarian efforts overlook adolescent girls’ needs. While relief organizations focus on food, shelter, and infrastructure, they oftentimes ignore sexual violence and unwanted pregnancies among young women and girls. A survey conducted by YouthFORCE with 150 teenage mothers in these regions exposed a heartbreaking reality—62% of them were survivors of sexual violence, and 36% of those attacks resulted in pregnancy. 76% of these teenage mothers wished they had access to safe abortion services.
A Movement to Break the Silence
YouthFORCE was created in 2009 as the youth advocacy arm of Ntankah Village Women. Its mission is to improve on the health and socio-economic conditions of grassroots women in communities in 5 regions of Cameroon. Faced with the grim realities of the conflict’s consequences on young women and girls, YouthFORCE’s groundbreaking project is revolutionising access to safe abortion services for adolescent survivors of sexual violence. We are taking a holistic approach that combines advocacy, community engagement, and direct support to ensure survivors can reclaim their rights and dignity.
Key aspects of our work include:
- Training healthcare providers to offer compassionate, professional, and stigma-free abortion services.
- Building a nationwide movement of adolescent girls to challenge social norms and counter sexual violence and abortion stigma.
- Community sensitisation campaigns that mobilise thousands of people to advocate for survivors’ rights.
- Engaging religious and traditional leaders through values clarification and attitude transformation programs.
- Providing pleasure-based comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) to empower adolescent girls with knowledge about their bodies and reproductive rights.
- Evidence-based advocacy through research, policy briefs, press conferences, and media engagement to influence key stakeholders.
Attacks on hospitals and medical personnel, combined with a severe shortage of trained healthcare providers, make accessing even basic reproductive health services a challenge. Many medical professionals are unaware of the legal provisions for abortion, and the process for obtaining legal permission is long and complex. This bureaucratic maze forces many survivors into unsafe abortion methods, increasing the risk of severe health complications or even death. The rise of unsafe abortions among adolescent girls was a wake-up call for us. We recognised that without urgent intervention, many girls would face a lifetime of trauma. We knew we had to act—and we did.
A Community-Centered Approach
In some communities, one in two girls has experienced sexual violence, with nearly 30% of these cases leading to pregnancy. Cameroon’s laws allow survivors of sexual violence to access abortion services, but in practice, these rights remain out of reach. Over 95% of survivors are unaware of their rights. Even when they are, the legal and medical systems often fail them.
Given the deeply rooted cultural and social barriers surrounding sexual violence and abortion, YouthFORCE adopted a community-driven strategy. Our approach acknowledges the intersection of conflict-related sexual violence and abortion rights, understanding that denying access to safe abortion is a form of continued violence against survivors.
To achieve meaningful change, we employ a range of approaches:
- Collaboration with community leaders, survivors, healthcare providers, law enforcement, and government agencies to create a supportive ecosystem for survivors. YouthFORCE signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with local governments, traditional leaders, and key stakeholders to address conflict-related sexual violence and support abortion rights for survivors. In one year, there was a 20% increase in reported sexual violence cases and greater trust in the reporting system.
- Leveraging culture and sports as powerful tools to shift harmful attitudes and break the silence around sexual violence. The project has led open and respectful dialogues with religious and traditional leaders, resulting in increased compassion and support for survivors. Since the start of the project, we’ve measured a 50% shift in attitudes towards abortion rights for survivors. This is reducing stigma and creating a more supportive environment.
- Supporting survivors and young girls to lead advocacy efforts, ensuring their voices are heard at national and international decision-making platforms, including the African Union. Survivors and young advocates are invited to global decision-making spaces to shape policies on sexual violence and reproductive rights.
Our efforts are making a tangible impact. More adolescent girls in conflict zones are accessing safe abortion services and receiving comprehensive support, including legal, medical, and psychosocial care.
Challenges and the Road Ahead
YouthFORCE’s journey has not been without obstacles. Addressing the sensitive issue of abortion has sparked backlash, but our culturally and religiously sensitive approach has allowed us to foster constructive conversations. The ongoing conflict and security risks in red zones have slowed progress. However, we remain resilient, adapting to ensure continuity in our work.
Looking ahead, we aim to:
- Strengthen partnerships with traditional leaders to influence customary laws that protect girls from sexual violence and promote abortion rights.
- Expand collaborations with youth organizations to build a stronger movement advocating for sexual and reproductive health rights.
- Leverage digital technology, artificial intelligence, and immersive storytelling to amplify our message and reach a wider audience.
- Broaden our focus beyond abortion rights to address the full spectrum of adolescent sexual and reproductive health needs.
Our mission is clear: to break the silence, dismantle the stigma, and ensure that adolescent survivors of sexual violence have access to the care, justice, and support they deserve.
