Sexual harassment of women in public spaces persists in Cameroon.
Photo credit: Comfort Mussa
Some months ago I had to travel from Bamenda to Douala for work.
I had a lot of work to do on the set date and took the night bus to save time…and also get some sleep! That was not to be.
I arrived at the agency, found my seat
inside the bus close to the window. I wanted a comfortable spot where I
planned to sleep throughout the trip. A man probably in his forties got
into the bus, checked his ticket number and eventually took the seat
next to mine.
As usual, when our journey started, the
driver switched off the lights in the bus and began playing some really
loud music. I leaned back and tried to get some sleep in spite of the
music. The man beside me adjusted himself on his seat, put his arm on
the back of my seat and gingerly touched my neck. I politely asked him
to take his hand away. He did and I shifted away from him and moved
closer to the window and eventually dozed off.
About an hour later, I woke up and
realized my strange neighbor was struggling to force his hands into my
shirt to touch my boobs!
I felt sick. Horrified, I yelled and
asked him to stop. Surprisingly enough, no passenger asked why I ordered
my neighbor to stop touching me. I could not change my seat because all
seats on the bus were already occupied I didn’t sleep again throughout
the trip. I was awake so I could”guard my body” against uninviting
intrusion. I needed to make sure that the man, who by necessity had to
sit beside me for more than five hours, didn’t try his nasty moves
again.
I have experienced such harassment
thrice and heard countless stories of women who are harassed in buses,
taxis and even motor bikes in Cameroon. It is a constant battle for some
women to reach their destinations without being touched, squeezed, and
grabbed. Sometimes, they are subjected to lewd comments from other
passengers.
In many cities in Africa, women face
harassment and violence not only at home and in their relationships, but
also in public spaces. The Cameroon government has since joined forces
with international organizations in trying to end all forms of violence
against women. Despite this, harassment and violence against women is a
daily occurrence across the country.
Hiding the problem
Public transportation across Cameroon
has multiple problems and overcrowding is just one of the most annoying
of them. It would be unfair to blame all men for touching women or vice
versa. However we (women) have a strong case to make concerning sexual
harassment on public transportation.
Sadly, most cases are under reported. How many women would report an incident of sexual harassment inside a bus to the police? Very few ever do that.
The majority of women would suffer in silence. Others may feel
embarrassed and will not want to ‘make a scene’. Some others keep quiet
for fear of being accused of provoking the situation.
I hear questions like, “how is a man
supposed to control his urge when he stands behind a girl wearing a
tight pair of jeans in a congested bus or seating besides a girl with
exposed enticing body parts?” I wonder if those who ask such questions
will also tell a hungry boy who passes near a restaurant to break in and
steal some food.
“Our bodies are never public property under any circumstance,” Gloria Steinem
Photo credit :Comfort Mussa
Problems persist when not tackled
I told the driver
about my experience when the bus stopped and he just shrugged and said
that is how some men behave. I complained at the bus agency and was told
the same thing. Some men just like touching women in night buses, was
the general reaction and little could be done to stop the harassment.
One of the key reasons for the
persistent high rate of violence against women in Cameroon is that they
are mostly ignored by the rest of society. I remember a situation on a
bus once when a lady complained loudly that the man sitting beside her
was trying to touch her thighs. Other passengers laughed and told her to
“arrange” whatever it was with her neighbor. Some other people told her
that “neighbor helep neighbor” (that is, she should help a neighbor in
need) .The driver did not stop or warn the man since he did not think
it was any form of harassment. Men apparently always get away with a lot
of bad behavior especially when this is directed against women
The Way Forward
If
we are to end sexual harassment in public spaces and our public
transportation network, we’ll have to start raising our voices in
protest. Victims must speak out each time anybody harasses them wherever
that happens. No excuse is good enough. When we stay silent we are
condoning such types of behavior.
Safety measures
Here are some safety tips I gathered along the way;
• If I must travel on the night bus, I
try to get a seat close to the driver because there is usually some
light there unlike the rest of the bus that is often pitch dark
• If I am traveling with a friend, I prefer to seat near them.
• Reading a book (when traveling by day)
or wearing headphones tells anybody near me that I don’t want to
engage. This sometimes is still not good enough o stop the bullies.
• Reporting the perpetrator is another
good measure. Most of the time, no action is taken against the bully but
this is a step in the right direction. • I still think the fact that
there are no lights inside night buses is primarily to blame for this
harassment.
• There have been complaints about this
and some travel agencies are introducing some changes. In December 2013,
I was very happy to see that one of the travel agencies did provide
some form of shady light at night. With some kind of light, most of the
perpetrators some of whom are just cowards, will do nothing. They fear
any form of light and exposure.
• Speaking out against harassment on
public transportation vehicles is a way to ensure that the society
learns that harassment is NEVER acceptable. I have even encouraged some
male colleagues to discuss the subject of sexual harassment against
women on their radio programs. The more we talk about and against it,
the more aware our society becomes of the fact that sexual harassment
against women is wrong.
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