Tag Archives: Lesbians in Cameroon

Cameroon: Leaked sex tape puts lesbian soccer star at risk

Posted on 21/11/2021 by | Leave a comment

Sexually explicit lesbian videos showing a former star of the national women’s soccer team and her partner spread widely in Cameroon last week. In response, social media sites were ablaze with people claiming to be outraged. Online and off, discrimination and insults against LGBTI people in Cameroon intensified, and police made arbitrary arrests of several gay and trans Cameroonians.

The videos showing Gaelle Enaganouit, the former forward team manager of the Indomitable Lions, could put her at risk of prosecution under Cameroon’s anti-homosexuality law.

Article 347-1 of the Cameroonian penal code states: “Any person who has sexual intercourse with a person of the same sex shall be punished with an imprisonment of six (06) months to five (05) years and a fine of twenty thousand (20,000) to two hundred thousand (200,000) [CFA] francs” (about US $35 to $350).

According to the news website CoupsFrancs.com, the advocacy group Stand Up Against the Decriminalization of Homosexuality yesterday filed a complaint in court in Yaoundé, Cameroon, accusing her and Brenda Ahanda of the “practice of homosexuality”.

Reportedly Enaganouit has left the country and traveled to France.

LGBTI rights activists have noticed an upswing in violations of the human rights of LGBTI citizens, including five arbitrary arrests of gay and transgender people in Douala.

Activists have been forced to defend their personal security more rigorously.

Mix (pseudonym), a lesbian rights activist, stated: “I have been living in lock-up since the beginning of this story, I can no longer go out for fear of being attacked by neighbors and young people in the neighborhood. They call me Enganamouit’s sister, Mama Scissors.”

The national human rights watchdog project Unity and its member associations are urging Cameroonians to show more tolerance and have advised LGBTI community members to be cautious and discreet.

Continue reading: https://76crimes.com/2021/11/16/lesbian-sex-tape-boosts-human-rights-abuses-in-cameroon/ (source)

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UN submission on discrimination and violence against lesbians

Posted on 14/08/2021 by | 1 comment

On 1 August 2021 Listening2Lesbians provided submissions in response to the following from the Commission on the Status of Women:

“Any individual, non-governmental organization, group or network may submit communications (complaints/appeals/petitions) to the Commission on the Status of Women containing information relating to alleged violations of human rights that affect the status of women in any country in the world. The Commission on the Status of Women considers such communications as part of its annual programme of work in order to identify emerging trends and patterns of injustice and discriminatory practices against women for purposes of policy formulation and development of strategies for the promotion of gender equality.”

Commission on the Status of Women: Communication Procedure

Information was provided to the UN on incidents dating back approximately 2.5 years across the 57 countries we have reported on in that time.

Legal, social and familial punishment of lesbians for failing to conform with the expectations imposed on women illuminates the status of women around the world. Homosexuality is understood to be a breach of sex-based expectations. Strictly enforced sex roles are accompanied by increased consequences for those who break them, individually or collectively. Lesbians, or women read as lesbians, are doubly punishable for their non-conformity, both overt and inferred.

Listening2Lesbians is not an expert on these countries and provided this information to augment and support the information provided by women from individual communities. We can only provide information on cases we have been able to locate and based our submissions solely around the available facts. Please note that we welcome corrections and updates.

We are painfully aware of the many communities not represented.

Anyone with information on missing communities is invited to contact us with information on reporting violence and discrimination against lesbians in their community.

Liz, Ari and Devorah @ Listening2Lesbians

Submissions:

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Cameroon: Vandals Target Lesbian Rights Organisation

Posted on 31/07/2021 by | Leave a comment

Many homophobic people in Cameroon believe that LGBTI community centers aren’t merely meeting places for LGBTI people, but are used to promote homosexuality. Same-sex sexual relations are against the law in Cameroon.

The latest victim of this mistaken belief is the Association for the Advancement of Women (AVAF), an organization in Yaoundé, Cameroon, that defends lesbians’ rights.

AVAF reported that “on the night of July 11 to 12, 2021 (Sunday to Monday), unidentified individuals broke into the premises by smashing [into] the office of the Administrative and Financial Director.”

The vandals set a fire in that office and burned financial and activity reports. Various documents were stolen along with financial securities of as-yet unknown value.

AVAF staff and community members are worried because private contact information and perhaps compromising documents have been taken. They fear that their identity will be published.

Continue reading: https://rightsafrica.com/2021/07/26/vandalism-of-another-lgbt-center-in-cameroon/ (source)

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Cameroon: lesbians jailed for sexuality after rejected man denounced them

Posted on 29/06/2021 by | Leave a comment

Sexual advances from a love-sick man led to 18 months in prison for Roro and Gold, a lesbian couple who had been in a close, untroubled relationship for four years.

Until then, they had a peaceful life. Roro, 22, lived with one of her aunts. Gold, 26, rented a small room in a corner of Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon. She lived away from her family, who had rejected her because of her sexual orientation.

Gold ran a small “Call Box” firm — a common type of business in Cameroon at which customers pay to use the company’s mobile phones for calls and money transfers. Roro was a waitress in a dance bar.

A horny patron of the bar spotted Roro while she was working there and told her how he felt. She quickly rejected his advances, telling him she was not at all interested in a relationship with him.

But he didn’t give up. Instead, he became a regular at the dance bar, hoping he could eventually win her heart. As he hung around at the bar, he noticed that Gold often showed up to meet Roro at closing time. Eventually he confronted Roro and insulted Gold. A fight broke out.

Scorned once again, he went to the police and denounced them as lesbians. Police arrested Roro and Gold on homosexuality charges.

Police offered to release them if they paid a bribe, but they didn’t have money to pay it, so they were put on trial. On Dec. 23, 2019, they were sentenced to 18 months in prison plus fines and court costs totaling 400,600 CFA francs (about US $730).

Because they couldn’t pay that amount, when the 18 months was over they would need to remain in prison for an additional four months to work off the fine.

Continue reading at: https://76crimes.com/2021/06/25/imprisoned-for-whom-they-love-lesbian-couple-has-been-set-free/ (Source)

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Tua’s journey to asylum as a lesbian from Cameroon

Posted on 07/02/2021 by | Leave a comment

Tua is a lesbian from Cameroon who finally received her leave to remain in the United Kingdom in 2019.

Tua talks to Sally Jackson about the violent lesbophobia she was subjected to in Cameroon, and how she was forced into a marriage by her mother. During her escape, she was exploited and trafficked to England where she faced the shameful policies of the UK’s Hostile Environment before finding support here. Her asylum claim was finally accepted in 2019 and she has received her leave to remain.

Continue reading at: https://filia.org.uk/podcasts/2021/1/25/tua-journey-to-asylum

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Cameroon: “When I came out someone threatened to rape the spirit of lesbianism out of me”

Posted on 24/01/2021 by | Leave a comment

By Bandy Kiki

It took moving to the UK for me to realise that homosexuality isn’t and shouldn’t ever be a crime.

Still, because of Cameroon’s attitudes to LGBTQ+ people, I’m not able to go back to my home country – even when I lost my mother to cervical cancer in 2017. We were very close so it felt heart-wrenching not to be able to attend her funeral.

When I publicly came out as a lesbian via social media in 2017, a high profile Cameroonian producer threatened to rape the spirit of lesbianism out of me if I ever set foot in my home country again.

The whole ordeal was traumatic but he wasn’t the only one to send abuse or death threats. Comment after comment seemingly shared the same sentiment – that it’s un-African to be gay – but I couldn’t disagree more.

Continue reading Bandy’s story: https://metro.co.uk/2021/01/19/i-couldnt-come-out-as-a-lesbian-until-i-moved-to-the-uk-13901545/ (source)

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Cameroon: Lesbians imprisoned for two years for hugging

Posted on 16/04/2020 by | Leave a comment

cameroon

Eva, a hairstylist, is a slender 28-year-old with large black eyes, a round face, long hair and a nose ring.

Marie, 24, has a thin face, small eyes, dimples on her cheeks and short, yellow-tinted hair.

They have been in a loving, committed relationship for years.

Over a period of two years, they had been living undisturbed in a small community in eastern Cameroon where they moved in 2016 to be out of sight and safe from violence. For while, the move was a success.

It was a contrast with the busy city of Yaoundé, which Eva and Marie left four years ago after their families rejected them after learning that they two women were in love with each other.

Their enjoyment of a quiet, peaceful life ended in August 2018 after they attended a friend’s party in downtown Bertoua. That night, when the time came to go home, Eva called for a motorcycle taxi. As they waited for it to arrive, they hugged passionately.

Marie recounted what happened:

“We were both standing on the sidewalk waiting for the bike. I was wearing a black mini dress and my partner in pants. I was glued to her, caressing her body, while she had her hand around my waist. This  behavior aroused the curiosity of police officers, who concluded that we were homosexuals.”

The officers demanded to see their papers, then arrested them.

After Eva and Marie had been in custody for two days, police offered to release them if they paid 200,000 CFA francs (about US $334). They didn’t have the money, so they were put on trial, convicted of homosexual activity, and sentenced to two years in prison with a fine of 138,000 CFA francs each (about US $238 each).

They are scheduled to be released from Bertoua Central Prison in September 2020 — but only if they can pay the fine, which they cannot. If the fine isn’t paid by that point, their sentence will be extended as they work it off.

Continue reading: https://76crimes.com/2020
/04/14/two-years-in-a-cameroon-prison-for-two-womens-passionate-hug/ (source)

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Cameroon: Lesbian made homeless by lesbophobic brother

Posted on 25/06/2019 by | 1 comment

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Earlier this month a 27-year-old Cameroonian woman suddenly found herself on the street, barred from her family home, after her older brother learned about her love for another woman.

Continue reading: https://76crimes.com/2019/06/24/
cameroon-man-evicts-sister-over-fear-that-shes-a-lesbian/ (source)

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Cameroon: Assaults, rape, death threats over lesbian affair

Posted on 14/06/2019 by | 1 comment

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In April, when a Cameroonian man learned that his common-law wife was attracted to women, he assaulted her, raped her lover and threatened to kill them both.

“He burst into the house and struck me to the ground. He tore off my clothes. He assaulted my girlfriend and raped her in front of me as I lay on the floor helplessly. My lover lived in a secluded area, so no neighbors could hear our cries for help.

Before leaving, my husband hit me again on the head and vowed to return later to kill us. Afraid for our lives, my lover and I packed up and went to the home of one of her friends who agreed to host us for a few days.”

Continue reading: https://rightsafrica.com/2019
/06/13/cameroon-assaults-rape-death-threats-over-lesbian-affair/ (source)

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Cameroon: Estranged dad seizes kids from lesbian mother

Posted on 07/01/2019 by | 1 comment

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The long-absent father of two young daughters recently took them away from their lesbian mother after threatening to send her to prison for her sexual orientation.

Continue reading at: https://76crimes.com/2019/01/04/estranged-dad-seizes-kids-from-lesbian-mother-in-cameroon/ (source)

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Cameroon: Homophobia derails a lesbian’s pro sports career

Posted on 04/01/2019 by | 1 comment

Une seance d'entrainment avec le club.

Homophobia in sports: Because of public pressure and fear of lesbians, a star athlete is barred from every football (soccer) club in Cameroon. Now she’s trying to get back in the game.

Continue reading at: https://76crimes.com/2019/01/03/cameroon-homophobia-derails-a-pro-sports-career/ (source)

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Cameroon father decrees: No school for lesbian daughter

Posted on 24/10/2018 by | 2 comments

cameroon

In southern Cameroon, a father who discovered his daughter’s sexual orientation has blocked her from attending her final year of school.

Continue reading at: https://76crimes.com/2018/10/12/cameroon-father-decrees-no-school-for-lesbian-daughter/ (source)

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Lesbian ‘witches’ chained and raped by families in Cameroon

Posted on 02/10/2018 by | 1 comment

cameroon

“I didn’t see girls like everyone else – I thought it was a bad spirit that had invaded me,” [Viviane] told the Thomson Reuters Foundation with a rueful laugh by phone from France, where she sought asylum last year with her girlfriend’s help.

“So I started praying to make it go away.”

But her prayers failed. Four years later, Viviane was chained to the wall and violently raped by a man who her family forced her to marry after discovering that she was a lesbian.

Continue reading at: https://af.reuters.com/article/cameroon
News/idAFL5N1VW1HP (source)

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Cameroon: Lesbian on the Run

Posted on 17/08/2018 by | 1 comment

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Police in Cameroon have been seeking a 22-year-old lesbian for the past three weeks, ever since a homophobic neighbor denounced her to police in Douala because of her sexual orientation.

Continue reading at: https://76crimes.com/2018/08/13/cameroon-lesbian-on-the-run/  (source)

 

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Cameroon: Lesbians beaten for being ‘witches’, ‘who deserve to die’

Posted on 21/06/2018 by | 1 comment

WIFC

‘For more than a year, Renée and Soltera have been facing insults, intimidation and death threats from the son of their deceased landlord, who wants to evict them from their home on the grounds of their sexual orientation,’ the statement read.

‘When they refused to leave, he savagely assaulted them at home and beat them with a thick board. He ignorantly declared that, as lesbians, they must die because they are witches.’

Continue reading at:  https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/lesbians-beaten-for-being-witches-and-who-deserve-to-die-in-cameroon/#gs.8jmhyYE (source)

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Cameroon: School expels 2 allegedly lesbian students

Posted on 07/04/2018 by | 1 comment

The principal of the illustrious Etoile School in Douala, Cameroon, has expelled two students for alleged lesbianism.
The principal, Emile Ndongo, has a reputation as a strict disciplinarian. He defended his harsh action in blatantly homophobic terms:
“Homosexuality is an animal baseness. My institution is not a homosexual dump,” he said.

Continue reading at: https://76crimes.com/2018/04/05/
cameroon-school-expels-2-allegedly-lesbian-students/  (source)

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Scandalized Cameroon Family Hunts Lesbian Bride

Posted on 07/02/2018 by | 2 comments

cameroon

After marrying her girlfriend, a lesbian in Cameroon became the target of a manhunt by her new in-laws.

Continue reading at: https://76crimes.com/2018/02/05/
scandalized-cameroon-family-hunts-lesbian-bride/ (Source)

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Update: Lesbian refugee says she’s relieved to still be in Canada, at least for now

Posted on 31/01/2018 by | 3 comments

Angela-refugee_credit-James-Goldie-2042x1394

“I’m happy. So happy,” Angela says, two days after authorities halted her deportation at the last minute.
The 21-year-old lesbian was scheduled to be deported on Jan 18, 2017, after Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board denied her request for asylum here.
Just 24 hours before she was scheduled to be deported, Angela was granted a stay of removal, allowing her to remain in Canada and appeal her case. “When I got the news I was relieved,” she says. “I wasn’t scared anymore of going back home.”

Continue reading at: https://www.dailyxtra.com/lesbian-refugee-says-shes-relieved-to-still-be-in-canada-at-least-for-now-72880  (Source)

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Canada wants to deport this lesbian, even though she may be jailed or worse if sent home

Posted on 26/01/2018 by | 1 comment

Angela-refugee_credit-James-Goldie-2042x1394.jpg

In less than 24 hours, a lesbian living in Vancouver could face prison, harassment and vigilante violence if Canada rejects her request for asylum and sends her home.

Continue reading at:  https://www.dailyxtra.com/canada-wants-to-deport-this-lesbian-even-though-she-may-be-jailed-or-worse-if-sent-home-83947  (Source)

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Cameroon: Two women arrested for lesbianism while walking together

Posted on 15/01/2018 by | 1 comment

The Ndogbong gendarmerie, where Coco and Vivi were detained and tortured for three days. (Photo by Jacks Oke)

Around midnight, gendarmes arrived, beat up the two friends, arrested them, and hauled them to the gendarmerie on charges of lesbianism.  The officers interrogated them, kicked them, and beat them with the flat side of a machete blade.  They were handcuffed and hung, standing, from a window frame. The mistreatment lasted for three days.

Continue reading at: https://76crimes.com/2017/12/28/cameroon-two-women-arrested-for-walking-together/ (Source)

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