Cameroon-USA – Woman’s Testimonial from Victim to Immigrant to Survivor – Tahirih Justice Center

 

 

 

 

The Tahirih Justice Center was founded in 1997 to address the acute need for legal services of immigrant and refugee women who have fled to the U.S. to seek protection from human rights abuses.

Cameroon – Joelle’s Story

My name is Joelle.* I am a native of Cameroon. I fled my country because the
local chief wanted to marry me and separate me from my family. I was already
married to a man I loved and, at the time, expecting my first child. The chief
was old and already had many wives and children in his compound. The chief’s
notables beat my husband, threatened him, and chased him out of my village. The
chief then raped me, saying that I had consented, and chastised me in front of
the village so he could shame me and turn our neighbors against me.

During this time, I was arrested several times for refusing to marry the
chief. In jail, I was forced to remove all my clothes and was thrown in a dark
cell where I had to lie on a dirty floor covered in urine and feces. I was
beaten and sexually molested by the guards. The bottoms of my feet were so
bruised after one beating that I could not wear shoes for a long time
afterward.

Upon my last release from prison, my family sent me to my uncle’s house in
the city to escape the forced marriage and hide. For this act of disobedience,
my mother and my brothers were banned from the village. They lost all their
possessions and are not allowed to return, not even to be buried next to our
ancestors. Knowing I would never be safe in Cameroon, with my uncle’s help, I
came to the United States.

I knew no one in the United States and had nowhere to live when I arrived. I
lived for a short time with a woman who suddenly told me she could no longer
help me and I needed to leave her house that day. I had a small child and had
nowhere to go. So I sat on a bench at a shopping mall and began crying. An
African man approached me and invited me to live with his family. After a while,
I became uncomfortable with my living situation and needed to move again. I was
referred to the Tahirih Justice Center by a therapist and they helped me find a
wonderful family to live with. Tahirih helped me get asylum, helped get me into
a job training program and served as a reference when I was job hunting,
helped me with my daughter’s birth certificate, and finally helped bring my
husband to the United States.

I now work for the Fairfax County, Virginia,government providing family
services to vulnerable populations. My goal is to help my clients become
self-sufficient as well as to educate individuals and families in need about
available resources and opportunities. I plan to go back to school to study
social work so I can better advocate for those in need. It is hard to believe
that not too long ago I was myself homeless, alone in a new country, and in
desperate need of help.

Joelle’s application for asylum based on forced marriage was
approved in March 2004. Finally, after years of hardship, she and her husband
are reunited and are now raising a family in Virginia. Joelle has become a
passionate ambassador of Tahirih’s mission to protect women and girls who, like
her, are fleeing human rights abuses.

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FACTS FROM CAMEROON

• Despite the law that fixes a minimum age of 15 years for a bride, many
  families facilitate the marriage of young girls by the age of 12 years. Often
  the husband, who could be many years older than his bride, pay his wife’s
  parents a “bride price.” Since a price had been paid, the girl is considered
  the property of the husband. (US Department of State 2005 Country Reports on
  Human Rights Practices)
• According to a BBC News report, marriage rates for 15-19 year-old girls in
  Cameroon were 41 percent, the fifth highest rate of 22 African countries
  surveyed. (Monekosso, Ticky. BBC News. “Africa’s Forced Marriages” (8 Mar
  2001))