Murder of trans woman shakes Ivory Coast
She had fled from transphobic violence in Benin.
On the night of April 4 to 5, a trans woman known as Jennifer was murdered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, after fleeing from her native Benin, where she was the victim of a transphobic assault. Now she has become one of the latest fatalities in an ongoing epidemic of transgender murders that totaled at least 350 worldwide in 2024.
Jennifer, age 23, had been living in Ivory Coast for four years after fleeing her native Benin after she was assaulted in a bar there and stripped naked in public. Since 2021, she had thought she had found a relative haven of peace in Ivory Coast, where she could enjoy her trans identity in peace, far from the inquisitive eyes of her family.
Until recently, Ivory Coast had been seen as relatively tolerant towards LGBT people, but that image has been shattered by a wave of anti-LGBT hate speech and violence.
Jennifer’s murder is evidence of a “silent and dangerous” homophobia that infects Ivory Coast, in the words of Guadalupe Diakhoumpa (pseudonym), a Senegalese activist who has lived in Abidjan.
Facts in Abidjan
According to those close to Jennifer, she apparently met her murderer on a social network, but had taken precautions before meeting him. She told him beforehand that she was a trans woman in order to avoid any misunderstanding.
She also avoided going out at night to meet him in an unfamiliar neighborhood. Instead, she arranged to meet him at her home.
However, on the night of April 4-5, she was found lifeless in her home, stabbed to death and lying in a pool of blood.
Before the tragedy, feeling the need to be proactive, she had taken care to send close friends a photo of the young man she was about to meet. As a result, after the murder, the identity of her assailant was quickly revealed on the web.
Reactions in Ivory Coast
For the time being, the authorities have not commented, and the judicial investigation by the Ivorian authorities is continuing.
In his defense, the young man in question is claiming self-defense against an intimidating and sexually demanding trans woman who tried to force him to consent to a sexual act against his will.
For Jennifer’s friends, this is nothing less than a “murder”, a “premeditated transfeminicide”.
The case, which will be closely scrutinized by the West African LGBT+ community, is due to be decided by the courts in the near future, and has already had repercussions beyond the borders of Ivory Coast, notably in the Jennifer’s country of origin.
