full version - World Organisation Against Torture

Violence Against Women: 10 Reports / Year 20034. Violence against Women in the FamilyMost violence against women takes place in the within the private sphere.State responsibility arising out of acts by private individuals lies at theheart of the gender-interpretation of the Convention against Torture. Agrowing body of international human rights law has recognised Stateresponsibility for private acts when the state fails to exercise due diligencein preventing, investigating, prosecuting, punishing and repairing humanrights violations. While it is obvious that not all violence against womencan be qualified as torture within the meaning of the Convention againstTorture, the mere fact that the perpetrator is a private individual ratherthan a state official should not automatically lead to the exclusion of theviolence from the scope of the Convention against Torture as according toits article 1, torture means not only acts of sever pain and suffering by thea public official, but also at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescenceof a public official or other person acting in the official capacity.Depending on the severity of the violence and the circumstances givingrise to State responsibility, OMCT believes that violence against womenperpetrated by private individuals can constitute a form of torture or cruel,inhuman or degrading treatment.4.1 Woman BatteringAlthough there are no reliable statistics on domestic violence againstwomen in Cameroon, reports indicate that it is a widespread problem inthe country.OMCT is gravely concerned by the lack of measures taken by the governmentto eliminate domestic violence against women, which is still regardedas culturally acceptable by certain sectors of society. The Governmenthas failed to take decisive action to combat the problem, such as passinglegislation specifically prohibiting domestic violence abuse or trainingofficials so that they understand the complexities of issues surroundingthis type of abuse. OMCT also notes with concern that the governmenthas not initiated any awareness raising campaign in order to eliminate ofdomestic violence against women.As there is no special law dealing with domestic violence, victims of thistype of violence have to file a complaint under the assault provisions of132