Cameroon transgender woman arrives in Belgium after ‘homosexuality’ conviction

A transgender woman
whose conviction for “attempted homosexuality” in Cameroon prompted
outrage has arrived in Belgium after more than a year of exile in Nigeria, her
lawyer told AFP.

Shakiro, who goes by one
name, gained prominence on social media with posts denouncing Cameroon’s laws
banning homosexuality, leading to her arrest and a five-year prison sentence
handed down in May 2021.

A few months later,
after being released while pursuing an appeal of the ruling, she and another
transgender woman were dragged out of a taxi and brutally beaten by a mob in
Cameroon’s economic capital, Douala, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has reported.

Shortly after the
attack Shakiro sought refuge in neighbouring Nigeria and applied for a
humanitarian visa from Belgium, according to Alexandre Marcel, president of the
Idaho France aid association for the LGBT community.

“She was granted
asylum in Belgium and left Lagos for Brussels with the utmost discretion,”
her lawyer Alice Nkom said on Wednesday.

Shakiro’s appeal of
the homosexuality conviction is still pending, Nkom said.

Cameroon authorities
did not respond to AFP requests for comments.

Discrimination towards
gays and transgender people is widespread in Africa, and many countries have
laws punishing same-sex relationships.

Homosexuality
convictions in Cameroon can carry prison terms of six months to five years and
fines of up to 200,000 CFA francs ($330), a huge sum in a country racked by
poverty.