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Militarised masculinities in Cameroon – a tale of struggle for land rights and changing gender relations

In this webinar, WILPF launched the research report titled “Evolving Alliances: Men and Women – Access to Land, Gender Relations and Conflict in Anglophone Cameroon”. WILPF also explored militarised masculinities in Cameroon, its causes and manifestations – including the impact of neoliberal policies and agro-business in land ownership  – and the role of ordinary men who are supporting women’s land rights in these areas of conflict.

Image credit: Delphine Brun
  • 8.4 min
WILPF International Secretariat
20 July 2023

In this webinar, WILPF launched the research report titled “Evolving Alliances: Men and Women – Access to Land, Gender Relations and Conflict in Anglophone Cameroon”. WILPF also explored militarised masculinities in Cameroon, its causes and manifestations – including the impact of neoliberal policies and agro-business in land ownership  – and the role of ordinary men who are supporting women’s land rights in these areas of conflict. The webinar was moderated by Sylvie Ndongmo, WILPF’s Board President and former President of WILPF Cameroon and the panellists were: 

Delphine Brun, Senior Inter-Agency GenCap advisor, IASC/NRC 

Lotsmart Fonjong (Ph.D.), Professor at the University of Cincinnati, OH-USA

Guy Feugap, Director of Programmes, WILPF Cameroon

Main Takeaways

The context in Cameroon

Sylvie Ndongmo explained that there are two major conflicts hitting Cameroon, the Separatist crisis and the Boko Haram conflict, hitting the North West and South West regions (NOSO) and far North, respectively. She added that there are also some ethnic conflicts and an increase in hate speech and tribalism across the country. 

Ndongmo also added that there are problems between the refugees, the internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the host communities as well as border tensions with Central African Republic to the east and Equatorial Guinea to the south all of which were exacerbated after the election conflict in 2018.

“The most violent conflict is the bigger conflict between the government and the Separatists from the English-speaking minority…it started in 2017….the conflict has claimed the lives of over 6,000 people and we have more than 700,000 people who have been displaced…and many girls and boys have not been going to school for years,” said Ndongmo.

The conflict has created a backlash for women as they lose their financial autonomy once they are displaced, and they have no choice but to “take on many roles”. Furthermore,   Ndongmo explained that due to the conflict, “the rates of gender-based violence have greatly increased and as a result…young and single mothers are exposed to prostitution… while children are exposed to forced labour”.

Anglophone and Francophone Cameroon

Professor Lotsmart Fonjong began by defining Anglophones and he said that  “the concept of anglophone is very fluid in Cameroon, it is political and it is ill-defined. For the purpose of this discussion…I will define Anglophone not as a linguistic group…..but a geographic community…people that lived in what is often referred to as British Cameroon before 1961..so they have …parental origin.”

Fonjong  explained that Cameroon’s territory was shared between the British and the French after the Germans were defeated in  World War I, and simply put, “colonialism created what is known today as Anglophones and Francophones.”

Conflict, gender and land rights

Commenting on this historical perspective, Delphine Brun said that the populations in the two affected regions are using three strategies: to fight  with the motivation  to come under the protection of the armed groups, hide themselves, or  move to other regions and become displaced. In those regions, Brun said, the population is confronted with violence that is making them vulnerable, ‘in fact, even if you don’t want to engage in fighting, you are still seen as a “spy” by the warring groups because as  a man, you have the potential to fight’.

Brun added that this violence is making the population vulnerable and this vulnerability has many outcomes including identity loss when they can’t play the role that they are expected to play anymore and a sense of anxiety when it comes to the future and, as a result, we see more depression, addiction and even suicide. Brun notes that this situation creates more domestic violence as men try to reaffirm their patriarchal position in the family.

According to Professor Fonjong, in addition to colonialism , there are many factors that led to this conflict, chiefly amongst which is the post-colonial plunder of governments that took over the country,  abolishment of the federation and the creation of a unity government  that did not provide legal protection to Anglophones. This led to agitation and some Anglophones believe that they are marginalized when it comes to equal  representation in power and jobs. “There is underdevelopment everywhere in the Anglophone and Francophone regions, but when people have political differences, they exploit poverty to raise their voices and when these voices are not heard by the systems or by the government, it turns violent.” 

This vulnerability is seen in the land relations in the country.  He added that “the land law in Cameroon, is gender-neutral, it doesn’t discriminate against men or women, but it is operating in a context where there is custom and custom is very gender-sensitive…..when a neutral law or neutral legal system is operating in a context where there is patriarchy and custom, it makes the law gender-biased.”

Guy Feugap agreed that the land law is not discriminatory, but argued that most women are unaware of their rights and in this regard, access to education to navigate the law is critical.

Lessons learned

Feugap – believes that the research helped them to not only target men, but target the right men or as he calls them “men with influence”.

One of the most important lessons is the need to engage men in power, stressed Ndongmo, who added that “traditional leaders who are custodian of the traditions can be of great support to dismantle the power structures that oppress women, children and even some men…we have to have men and boys….because they are able to use their powers to challenge these systems of oppression…not all men are for violence and military responses.”.

Feugap agreed and added that “we worked with traditional leaders who are known to be keepers of traditions and in this way, they have influence on their people. They are good allies…. we are working on synergy to reduce violence and violent masculinities.”

The programme works with armed men and through the research they found them to be ordinary men who were able to realize the impact of conflict on their communities. 

Land ownership proves to be one of the ways to pave the path for women’s empowerment and it helps with the protection of civil rights and family protection.

Resources

You can watch the full webinar here

You can read the research report launched here 

For those interested in understanding better how adolescent boys and men are affected by the armed crisis and how this impacts on gender roles and relations, you can read the interview with Delphine Brun. 

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WILPF International Secretariat

WILPF International Secretariat, with offices in Geneva and New York, liaises with the International Board and the National Sections and Groups for the implementation of WILPF International Programme, resolutions and policies as adopted by the International Congress. Under the direction of the Secretary-General, the Secretariat also provides support in areas of advocacy, communications, and financial operations.

Matt Mahmoudi

Matt Mahmoudi (he/him) is a lecturer, researcher, and organizer. He’s been leading the “Ban the Scan” campaign, Amnesty International’s research and advocacy efforts on banning facial recognition technologies and exposing their uses against racialized communities, from New York City to the occupied Palestinian territories.

Berit Aasen

Europe Alternate Regional Representative

Berit Aasen is a sociologist by training and has worked at the OsloMet Metropolitan University on Oslo. She has 40 years of experience in research and consultancy in development studies, including women, peace, and security, and in later years in asylum and refugee studies. Berit Aasen joined WILPF Norway five years ago. She is an alternate member of the National Board of WILPF Norway, and representing WILPF Norway in the UN Association of Norway, the Norwegian 1325 network and the Norwegian Women’s Lobby. Berit Aasen has been active in the WILPF European Liaison group and is committed to strengthening WILPF sections and membership both in Europe and relations across continents.

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Melissa Torres

VICE-PRESIDENT

Prior to being elected Vice-President, Melissa Torres was the WILPF US International Board Member from 2015 to 2018. Melissa joined WILPF in 2011 when she was selected as a Delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women as part of the WILPF US’ Practicum in Advocacy Programme at the United Nations, which she later led. She holds a PhD in Social Work and is a professor and Global Health Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine and research lead at BCM Anti-Human Trafficking Program. Of Mexican descent and a native of the US/Mexico border, Melissa is mostly concerned with the protection of displaced Latinxs in the Americas. Her work includes training, research, and service provision with the American Red Cross, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centre, and refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Some of her goals as Vice-President are to highlight intersectionality and increase diversity by fostering inclusive spaces for mentorship and leadership. She also contributes to WILPF’s emerging work on the topic of displacement and migration.

Jamila Afghani

VICE-PRESIDENT

Jamila Afghani is the President of WILPF Afghanistan which she started in 2015. She is also an active member and founder of several organisations including the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organisation (NECDO). Elected in 2018 as South Asia Regional Representative to WILPF’s International Board, WILPF benefits from Jamila’s work experience in education, migration, gender, including gender-based violence and democratic governance in post-conflict and transitional countries.

A woman in a blue, black, and white dress smiles radiantly in front of a leafy green background.

Sylvie Jacqueline Ndongmo

PRESIDENT

Sylvie Jacqueline NDONGMO is a human rights and peace leader with over 27 years experience including ten within WILPF. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a track record of multiple socio-economic development projects implemented to improve policies, practices and peace-oriented actions. Sylvie is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and was the Section’s president until 2022. She co-coordinated the African Working Group before her election as Africa Representative to WILPF’s International Board in 2018. A teacher by profession and an African Union Trainer in peace support operations, Sylvie has extensive experience advocating for the political and social rights of women in Africa and worldwide.

WILPF Afghanistan

In response to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and its targeted attacks on civil society members, WILPF Afghanistan issued several statements calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan people and ensure that their rights be upheld, including access to aid. The Section also published 100 Untold Stories of War and Peace, a compilation of true stories that highlight the effects of war and militarisation on the region. 

IPB Congress Barcelona

WILPF Germany (+Young WILPF network), WILPF Spain and MENA Regional Representative

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Demilitarisation

WILPF uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.

Sixteen states are believed to have supplied weapons to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020 with the US supplying 74 % of weapons, followed by Russia. Much of this equipment was left behind by the US military and is being used to inflate Taliban’s arsenal. WILPF is calling for better oversight on arms movement, for compensating affected Afghan people and for an end to all militarised systems.

Militarised masculinity

Mobilising men and boys around feminist peace has been one way of deconstructing and redefining masculinities. WILPF shares a feminist analysis on the links between militarism, masculinities, peace and security. We explore opportunities for strengthening activists’ action to build equal partnerships among women and men for gender equality.

WILPF has been working on challenging the prevailing notion of masculinity based on men’s physical and social superiority to, and dominance of, women in Afghanistan. It recognizes that these notions are not representative of all Afghan men, contrary to the publicly prevailing notion.

Feminist peace​

In WILPF’s view, any process towards establishing peace that has not been partly designed by women remains deficient. Beyond bringing perspectives that encapsulate the views of half of the society and unlike the men only designed processes, women’s true and meaningful participation allows the situation to improve.

In Afghanistan, WILPF has been demanding that women occupy the front seats at the negotiating tables. The experience of the past 20 has shown that women’s presence produces more sustainable solutions when they are empowered and enabled to play a role.