After 16 days of action, the campaign against gender-based violence is coming to an end with a demonstration on Saturday December 14 in Abidjan. The numerous associations defending women’s rights have called for better consideration of femicides by the justice system. In 2020, 416 cases were recorded in the Ivorian economic capital alone, but the associations demand the systematic publication of statistics.
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With our correspondent in Abidjan, Benoit Almeras
The demonstrators reached the Alassane Ouattara bridge in memory of the victims of femicide. The activists, dressed in black and with megaphones in hand, are heard under the eye of motorists. “ Even if it was just the two of us, we would walk. The main thing is to be able to make our voice heard and the voice of those who no longer have one.summarizes Mégane Boho, president of the Ivorian League for Women’s Rights. We demand that femicide be integrated into the legal framework. Seeing women who are killed because they are women is femicide and it must be named. How can we fight against something we cannot name? »
These feminist associations are demanding also updated and official statistics on feminicides in Ivory Coast to better combat the phenomenon. Their message and their anger hit home with onlookers, like Thierry leaving a church with his daughter Camila: “ I would like to know the figures, because this is really something that pains me and I would like the authorities and the justice system to ensure that this violence can disappear. »
Last year, nearly 8,800 cases of gender-based violence were reported and treated, according to overall figures from the Ivorian authorities.
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