By Ikome Christie-Noella Eposi in Buea
Organized by the Center for Human Rights and Democracies in Africa, CHRDA, Some group of internally displaced persons-more than 60 comprising mostly rural women and girls have been schooled on Sexual and reproductive rights (SRHR), as well as access to services.
The objective of the training was to help these women and girls know how to take care of their health and to know about their sexual reproductive rights.
According to officials, it is important for women and girls to have control over sexual rights. “Everyone should walk with a condom especially in this crisis situation. If u are to be raped, you can at least plead for your perpetrator to use a condom. Condom is not 100% secured but majority do not fail because most of them have been tested in the laboratory. The good thing is that it protects the women and girls from getting diseases” said Abrelegwi Ngoasang Brenda, Gender/Humanitarian Coordinator CHRDA.
training on Sexual Reproductive Rights
“We are advising the women to use condoms as it will help them stay away from diseases and unwanted pregnancy. We are not saying they should go and have sex for money but in case they don’t want to get pregnant they should use condoms. When they use it, they will prevent the acquisition of sexually transmitted diseases and others diseases”.
The workshop comes at a vital time in which most women and girls have been affected by the present Anglophone crisis in the South West and North West Regions. Rape is one of the new weapons that have entered the crisis as women and girls have suffered from rape. In the crisis period, the rate of women getting pregnant increases and other diseases have also come up.
Officials have condemned the use of towels for sanitary napkins. “We are not saying they should not use towels as there are menstruation towels to be used. Before we had the sanitary pads there were menstruation towels. These towels should be bought from mother care shops and pharmacies and should be sanitized” said Abrelegwi Ngoasang Brenda.
Speaking to reporters, the founder of CHRDA, Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor Balla said sexual reproductive rights are something that is very important for the society and the woman in particular and that there are health issues that the woman need to understand as some of them are living in a very dire situation. “It is not just about providing food items, you also have to provide non-food items. Psychological support like counseling is part of the whole package. Most organizations are focused on providing food items such as rice, garri but we have done that and we think we need to go beyond the normal organizations are doing and to talk of the health situations also”.
An empowerment centre soon to be established
According to Barrister Agbor Balla, the empowerment centre is an idea that is home grown but “we shall partner with other organizations as we want it to be a very big project. The whole idea is to teach the displaced persons how to “catch fishes” and not just to “give them fish”. “After doing the training, we will open workshop for them to work and gainfully employed and make money. When you do that we will empower them as they have families to take care of. We felt that we should go beyond the short term of providing food items to an angle where we build capacity so they too can employ others and by so doing have the multiplier effect”.
“The whole idea behind the centre is to train women in vocational training. I want to ensure you that priority will be given to those who attended the event. Support will be extended to you so that no matter the psychological problem you have; we will look for ways to solve them, even though we may not be able to solve all the problems”.
“This training has been helpful to me as it has made me to know my menstrual cycle. I have gain knowledge on how to take care of my sexual organ and how to calculate my menstrual cycle which will help me to be safe” said Atta Helen
To Grace Tanyi, displaced person from Muyenge “the training was a great one especially to the girls as it is what we had passed through. It would be very helpful to the young girls. She added: “there were things that we were doing ignorantly but through this training we have understood that we were trying our best because we did not have teachers. Tearing the pad, using some medication in water was being implemented by these young girls but now they have been told it is not good”.
At the end, the women and girls were called upon to know how to control their sex and reproductive life. Abrelegwi Ngoasang said “take care of your body and maintain your health. Many diseases arise because we cannot manage our sexual and reproductive life. Try to live a healthy life and always have access to health care”.