Study finds less anti-LGBTI violence in Cameroon. Is it accurate?
Last year’s violent incidents cited in Unity report were down 36% from 2022
COMMENTARY
Has Cameroon become a much safer place for LGBTI people?
It’s a question raised by the publication of the latest report on anti-LGBTI violence and human rights abuses.
The report was published on May 21 by the Unity platform, a human rights watchdog whose membership includes dozens of Cameroonians LGBTI rights organizations.
The Unity report cited a total of 1,878 incidents of violence and violations in 2023 — down 36 percent from the 2,925 total in the previous year.
Some of the drop may have occurred because regional LGBTI rights organizations ran into problems collecting and compiling data. The report also does not take include data on hate speech or violence in the health sector.
But it’s clear that LGBTI organizations in Cameroon are working hard and effectively to reduce cases of homophobic violence.
Trans people are the most frequent targets of violence, followed by gay men.
Some steps are under way to remedy shortcomings.
Alougou Laetitia, Unity’s executive coordinator, noted that the new organization One Advocacy Africa plans to collect data on hate speech and to strengthen the Rail KP emergency-response network.
“We will also put in place a violence response mechanism in order to improve the response and response to cases of gender-based violence,” she said.
