Safeguarding the Rights of Women in Armed Conflicts: An Appraisal of the Armed Conflict in the Anglophone Cameroon

Abstract

Armed conflicts disproportionately affect women, exposing them to heightened risks of sexual and gender-based violence, displacement, economic marginalization, and exclusion from peace processes. This study examines the effectiveness of safeguarding the rights of women in the context of the Anglophone Cameroon armed conflict. Adopting a doctrinal and qualitative research methodology, the study analyses relevant international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and regional legal frameworks alongside documented practices in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon. The findings reveal a significant gap between Cameroon’s formal legal obligations and their practical implementation, resulting in persistent violations of women’s rights by both state and non-state actors. The study further finds that weak accountability mechanisms, institutional fragmentation, limited humanitarian access, and the marginalization of women from peace and security initiatives have undermined effective protection. The paper concludes that safeguarding women’s rights in the Anglophone conflict remains largely ineffective and argues that sustainable peace cannot be achieved without placing women’s protection and participation at the center of conflict response and peace-building efforts. The study contributes to existing scholarship by providing a context-specific legal appraisal of women’s rights protection in a protracted non-international armed conflict and offers policy-oriented recommendations aimed at bridging the gap between law and practice.