19% of girls aged 11 to 15 are victims of rape

"In Cameroon, 19% of girls aged 11 to 15 are victims of rape", revealed Patricia Ndjandjo, President of a non-governmental organization defending the rights of the girl child.

This was revealed at the third edition of the International Day of the Girl Child on 11th October celebrated in Douala.

Adolescent girls are not only victims of rape; but there are some who are coerced into early marriages. Ms. Ndjango disclosed a mentioned a research by Unicef on this issue dating from 2013. This included 17% of women aged 25 to 45 years who admitted to having lived common-law before they were 18 which meant that, they were given off in marriage even before they developed any kind of trade for themselves.

In some villages, the situation is even more complicated. In the area of education, about 77.7% of girls aged 12 years do not attend school and in some cities, 66% of girls in the same age group do not attend school, while still in the city, 12% of girls aged 12-18 drop out of school, while 37% in the villages leave the classroom entirely.

The consequences of such practices are countless. Rape causes a lot of trauma which can lead to death, while school drop out pushes women to become entirely dependent, if they do not start any small trade on their own.

"Women without income accounts for the most part, those who go into marriage before 18 years." "They have not developed the inquisitive spirit of certain social data in life", says Ms. Ndjandjo.

The International day of the girl celebrated on 11th October focused on this area under the theme "empowering adolescent girls to put an end to the cycle of violence". Young girls were given the skills to unearth their talents, strengthen their capacities and help them to make their own decisions.

In December 19, 2011 United Nations General Assembly adopted the International day of the girl child, in order to raise awareness of inequalities based on gender which girls around the world are facing.