Here’s how to help 2 unjustly imprisoned lesbians in Cameroon
Yane and Hage were arrested after Yane spurned the advances of a lustful neighbor
By Steeves Winner
A young lesbian couple, Yane and Hage, were living peacefully in their studio apartment in Ebolowa, Cameroon, until one day in January when Yane rebuffed an advance from a horny neighbor.
Angered by that rejection, the neighbor contacted a police officer he knew and, the next thing Yane and Hage knew, they were in prison awaiting trial on charges of homosexuality. Almost four months later, they’re still waiting and still imprisoned.
Yane and Hage (pseudonyms for their safety) are two of 10 LGBTI victims of homophobia in Cameroon and Nigeria who will be helped this year by Project Not Alone, which is seeking donations to free all 10 of them and, until they are released, to provide them with supplementary food they need. The St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation is the financial sponsor of Project Not Alone. U.S. tax-exempt donations for Project Not Alone go to the foundation and are transferred 100% to where they’re needed in Cameroon and Nigeria.
This year’s financial goal is $8,122, which will pay the prisoners’ fines and provide lawyers (working pro-bono) for Yane, Hage and one other detainee in Nigeria who is also being held pending a trial. It will also pay for hygiene supplies and supplementary food for prisoners during the months while they await release from their dirty prison cells, typically surviving on one filthy, poorly cooked meal per day.
Several generous donors responded quickly to our appeal on May 3. As a result, only $2,188 in additional donations are still needed.
Hage, age 24, did work online before her arrest. Yane, age 25, was unemployed. They lived together peacefully just as friends, as far as their neighbors knew, until Yane’s run-in with the neighbor.
When he made sexual propositions to her, Yane lost her temper, called him a “poor guy” and made clear that she wasn’t interested. Feeling insulted, he vowed to take revenge. He tried to learn whatever he could about Hage and Yane.
Within a couple of weeks, he had discovered that they were a lesbian couple, a revelation that he shared with other neighbors, including a police officer. The police arrested Hage and Yane on suspicion of homosexuality after observing that many masculine-looking women visited their home.
The couple was held at the police station for two days, then were referred to the public prosecutor’s office and then to prison.
As imprisoned lesbians, Hage and Yane have no support from their families, so they are desperate for food.
They also have no lawyer, so they can do nothing but wait for the Cameroonian justice system to remember that they exist and schedule a trial.
Project Not Alone aims to get them both food and a lawyer.
Please help us do that.
U.S. tax-deductible donations to Project Not Alone 2024 may be made via:
Or, if you prefer, you could send a check to St. Paul’s Foundation, 21 Marseille, Laguna Niguel CA 92677 USA.) Please write “Project Not Alone” on the memo line.
Steeves Winner, the author of this article, is a Cameroonian journalist who writes under a pseudonym. Contact him at steeves.w@yahoo.com.
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