Rescue Women Cameroon (REWOCAM)

About the Organization Contact and Service Areas Successes and Impact Innovative Solutions for IPV Survivors’ Economic Security Survivor Leadership Understanding Economic Harm in Context

About the Organization

Country

Cameroon

Number of survivors served in a year

51 to 100

Languages

English

Groups most commonly served

Disabled persons Ethnic, religious, or other minorities Indigenous peoples, communities, or nations Refugees, migrants, or internally displaced persons Rural communities Women

Type of organization

Grassroots/community-based organization Nonprofit or non-governmental organization (NGO) Social enterprise

Program model(s)

Community-based financial initiatives Holistic crisis response Survivor-centered income generation Transforming social norms through community-building

Contact and Service Areas

Email

nakinti@rewocam.org, info@rewocam.org, nakintin@yahoo.com

Address

Opposite Ebako Dibo Street, Kumba Town, Kumba, South West Region, Cameroon

Service Area(s)

Anglophone regions of Cameroon (North West and South West)

Successes and Impact

“One of my biggest moments of happiness is when I see a woman that we have provided funding to grow in business, doing her own things, taking care of her financial responsibility and of her children. Having all that financial liberty and walking away from a violent partner, I am so happy.”¹

Rescue Women Cameroon (REWOCAM) is dedicated to helping survivors build pathways to financial independence and healing. Their work is a testament to the powerful impact of combining economic initiatives with community-driven approaches, giving survivors the support they need to transform their lives. The organization also understands the importance of being an economically sustainable organization and has developed innovative financial streams to ensure their ability to serve survivors today and in the future.

Helping survivors grow their financial independence

Every survivor makes decisions based on their own unique circumstances, and REWOCAM understands that if a survivor desires to leave their harm-doer, financial independence is a necessary step of the process. REWOCAM shared a story about a client who wanted to leave her harm-doer but was unable to do so due to lack of money. With REWOCAM’s help, she started making products for sale and was able to build a successful business, allowing her to make choices that prioritized her safety and well-being.

A senior staff member recalled, “She sent me pictures of how her business has grown. When I saw how her product looked, I was so happy. She told me, ‘The good news is I walked away from my marriage and the divorce proceedings have started.’ Those things give me joy to see women gain financial freedom [and] take action into their own hands.”

Increasing organizational sustainability through a regionally relevant approach

A notable success for REWOCAM has been establishing their own financial sustainability as an organization. Though small in size, the organization now owns the biggest poultry farm in their area and has been selling table birds² for over two years. This project helps REWOCAM provide small emergency grants to survivors in urgent need, fund other economic initiatives for survivors, and gain practical knowledge as an organization on how to run a small business, which in turn helps them better mentor their clients.

Innovative Solutions for IPV Survivors’ Economic Security

“What survivors need most is financial support because when they come, their biggest problem is, ‘I don’t know how to take care of my children. I don’t have any source of income. My partner doesn’t give me money. I don’t have money to start up any business.’ [They need] financial support which can be followed up by educational and sensitization talks . . . about their rights.”

About the Program

REWOCAM views survivors’ financial independence as essential to healing from trauma and a crucial element in combating gender-based violence (GBV). Working in conflict-affected regions, the organization recognizes that many survivors they work with are subjected to multiple forms of violence, and they emphasize a holistic approach to economic security to address survivors’ varied needs. With deep ties to diverse local communities, REWOCAM prioritizes support for survivors with limited literacy and no income sources.

Previously, REWOCAM ran a group-based, interest-free loan program for survivors to start small businesses and work toward building their long-term economic security. Additionally, the organization provides workshops and events for survivors to share stories, receive training on income-generating activities, and strategize on how to drive cultural and systemic change. These peer-focused initiatives are bolstered by emergency grants to meet survivors’ urgent needs—a cornerstone of support that allows survivors to continue engaging with REWOCAM’s more long-term programming.

Program Development and Key Strategies

Key strategies of REWOCAM’s programming include:

Community-driven initiatives for survivor healing and economic security
Collaborative partnerships for shared learning

Community-driven initiatives for survivor healing and economic security

Group-based financial education and business financing models

Financial independence for REWOCAM’s program participants is rooted in community-based support. From 2011-2019, the organization ran an interest-free loan program for survivors to start small businesses. Through on-the-ground experience, REWOCAM found that organizing survivors into groups and disbursing the loan to the group delivered stronger outcomes than offering loans to individuals. Survivors served as guarantors for other survivors within the group, and the entire group shared responsibility for loan repayment. Group members actively followed up with one another, encouraging and supporting each other. This structure fostered a sense of mutual accountability and solidarity, motivating members to succeed not just individually but also as a community.

REWOCAM explains that by “grouping the survivors and supporting them as a group, so that each survivor is responsible for the other and each person’s loan is everyone’s loan, . . . survivors watch out for and follow up with their fellow survivors.” Participants also received training on financial literacy, bookkeeping, and savings to further strengthen their financial well-being. The result: successful small businesses and an 80% loan repayment rate.

Expanding reach through community focal points

REWOCAM operates in an area with diverse ethnic groups and has faced ongoing challenges accessing survivors in insular communities. Restrictive social norms often limit interaction with outsiders, particularly hindering communication with women within households. As the organization notes, “How do you support people if you do not even know what exactly is going on?”

One effective strategy has been working through community focal points—trusted individuals with access to these hard-to-reach individuals. Many of the focal points first connect with REWOCAM through the organization’s community-based work, including school programs. In one instance, a student from a minority Muslim community approached REWOCAM staff, saying, “I have listened to all of you talk today, and I feel like I should work with you even as a volunteer because my community is suffering.” These local actors can engage communities in ways REWOCAM alone cannot and play a vital role in extending the organization’s reach and ability to support more survivors.

Comprehensive, peer-supported services

Despite ongoing armed conflict in the region, REWOCAM works on the front lines to ensure survivors continue to receive the support they need. Many need additional resources to move beyond crisis and take part in long-term economic initiatives. Through comprehensive, peer-supported services, REWOCAM takes an approach that not only meets survivors’ immediate needs but also builds the foundation for lasting recovery and community resilience. These efforts include:

Giving one-time emergency grants to survivors referred through community networks.
Offering safe spaces for survivors to provide peer support to one another, raise awareness about harmful norms, and create collective strategies to combat intimate partner violence (IPV).
Providing pregnant survivors with a complete maternity delivery kit to help them access a hospital birth, combat isolation, and have an additional avenue of material and emotional support.

Collaborative partnerships for shared learning

In a field where funding is limited and demand for services is high, REWOCAM has built mutually beneficial relationships with other local organizations that also work on GBV prevention and response. They work together to share best practices and provide support—particularly with newer organizations to help them succeed—and understand that collaboration leads to the best outcomes for survivors and strengthens all organizations’ programming.

REWOCAM says, “We have a main partner in another town who works exclusively on GBV, and they have amazing programs on intimate partner violence. Every time [we visit the town], our team goes to offer a talk or a sensitization, a presentation on best practices, what has worked for us and what hasn’t worked.” In this respect, organizations working on GBV see themselves as shared collaborators on a joint issue as they work in partnership to meet survivors’ needs.

Survivor Leadership

“We are supposed to really involve survivors in our programs because we are working for them, and it cannot be without them.”

REWOCAM is led by a “survivor who is also a fierce activist against SGBV.” Knowing that survivor involvement is crucial to impactful programming, the organization prioritizes having survivors act as focal points in their communities: “If we want to work with this community, we have a focal point in that area who identifies women or survivors in need and calls us back for action,” says the organization.

Further, REWOCAM is actively exploring additional opportunities to involve survivors in their work. They are especially focused on finding more ways to include survivors in decision-making processes to ensure their services effectively address the needs of the communities they serve.

Understanding Economic Harm in Context

The organization’s programming supports survivors of IPV in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon. These areas are impacted by ongoing armed conflict and violent militia groups, which present numerous barriers to accessing survivors, particularly those in remote areas.³ Additionally, cultural practices and religious interpretations tied to both Christianity and Islam are often misused to justify harmful norms and behaviors. The following key factors influence survivors’ experiences of economic harm in these regions:

Cultural practices and religious interpretations perpetuate control over women’s autonomy
Remote and conflict-impacted areas present operational challenges for service providers

Cultural practices and religious interpretations perpetuate control over women’s autonomy

Bride price creates constraints for married women leaving harmful relationships

The practice of bride price—also known as dowry—involves the groom giving gifts to the bride’s family and is meant to honor the family’s loss of a daughter. REWOCAM notes that the practice of bride price causes many married women to feel pressured to remain connected with their in-laws, as their biological family may not want to see them again after a divorce or separation.⁴

“In traditional marriages here, there is a saying on the day of the traditional marriage, they tell the family of the groom that as we are collecting this bride price, we are not going to give it back, so we don’t want to see our daughter back regardless. She should stay there,” REWOCAM explains. Even though laws in the country offer some protection in cases of domestic violence, cultural stigma and family pressure associated with the practice of bride price discourage many married women from leaving harmful situations.⁵

Religious beliefs are misused to justify harmful gender norms and violence

REWOCAM points out that certain religious interpretations are often used as tools for justifying gender inequity, especially within marriages in both Christian and Muslim communities. The organization notes that both men and women quote the Christian Bible to rationalize the belief that “the woman is a man’s supporter and not an equal.”⁶ As a result, many people still view violence against women as acceptable. The organization has also witnessed the impact of harmful gender norms on a highly insular, minority Muslim community in their area. Within this hard-to-reach community, religious interpretations are used to justify the isolation of women from society, which contributes to greater economic dependence for women in relationships with men.

REWOCAM highlights the underlying similarities in the core dynamics of control present in both situations, despite their differing religious contexts. Nonetheless, due to the sensitive and deeply personal nature of religious beliefs, the organization emphasizes the importance of adopting careful, culturally attuned strategies to effectively challenge and deconstruct these norms and religious interpretations.

Social stigma traps women survivors in harmful relationships, even if they have financial independence

REWOCAM observes that due to social norms that regard marriage as a key life achievement, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV)—and especially IPV—becomes both an economic and a cultural issue. “A lot of African women have been socialized to believe that marriage is an achievement and a must for women,” the organization notes, “so much so that no matter the amount of violence that they experience in marriage, they either cover up to stay or choose to stay because they don’t want to be stigmatized for being single, divorced, or separated.”

REWOCAM suggests that though “financial independence can liberate women from violent partners,” they also point out that some women survivors with economic means may remain in harmful situations due to cultural pressures and stigma within wider society. The organization comments, “Many financially independent women are experiencing IPV, and they have no plans to leave [their harm-doers]. This is where the cultural issue comes in.”

Remote and conflict-impacted areas present operational challenges for service providers

REWOCAM notes that the majority of women survivors who are located in remote, hard-to-reach areas also lack access to supportive services due to limited transportation routes and communication infrastructure. The armed conflict has made these rural areas even more inaccessible for NGO staff. As an unintended consequence, many of the more connected towns are instead oversaturated with civil society organizations, creating an imbalance that often disrupts communities and leads to competition for resources.

As an organization, REWOCAM also faces safety risks due to the complex political nature of the conflict. Along with other organizations in the area, REWOCAM fears physical violence from both pro-government military and anti-state separatist fighters because they work with internally displaced people—a politically dangerous choice in their context—and must exert caution about organizational visibility and operations.

Notes

Direct quotes are slightly edited for style and flow.
Poultry raised in short periods of time specifically for meat production.
Human Rights Watch, Cameroon: Events of 2022, World Report 2023, New York, NY: Human Rights Watch, 2023, https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2023/country-chapters/cameroon.
Akiah P. Glay-Dormoh, “The Role of Bride Price in Sustaining Gender Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Critical Analysis,” Global Scientific Journal 12, no. 5 (2024): 951-960, https://www.globalscientificjournal.com/researchpaper/The_Role_of_Bride_Price_in_Sustaining_Gender_Inequality_in_Sub_Saharan_Africa_A_Critical_Analysis.pdf.
“Protection for Domestic Violence Victims and Relief Granted,” Baker-McKenzie, Accessed September 6, 2025, https://resourcehub.bakermckenzie.com/en/resources/fighting-domestic-violence/africa/cameroon/topics/4-protection-for-domestic-violence-victims-and-relief-granted.
“Christianity in Cameroon: Influence and Impact on Society,” Afrodiscovery, March 13, 2024, https://www.afrodiscovery.com/country/cameroon/cameroon-religion/christianity-in-cameroon-influence-and-impact-on-society/.