Despite rising femicides, protective law still awaited at the National Assembly

Cameroon’s Ministry of Women’s Promotion and the Family told the National Assembly that 50 women had been killed in four months in 2026, alongside 1,599 recorded cases of gender-based violence, including 166 rapes. In August, the League for the Education of Women and Children (LEFE) counted eight women killed in eight days; a 2018 demographic and health survey found that 44% of women who had ever been in a union had experienced emotional, physical, or sexual violence. LEFE says existing criminal penalties do not protect victims quickly enough and is calling for a comprehensive law, protection orders within 24 hours, explicit recognition of marital rape and femicide, and emergency shelters. The organization supports a proposed Code of Persons and the Family, while the protective legislation remains awaited at the National Assembly.