Originally published 2021-05-30.
In May 2021 a court in Douala, Cameroon's largest city, gave two transgender women the maximum penalty the country allows for same-sex conduct: five years in prison. Loic Njeuken, known on social media as Shakiro, and Roland Mouthe, known as Patricia, were found guilty of "attempted homosexuality", public indecency and not carrying identity cards. Each was also fined 200,000 CFA francs, roughly 360 US dollars at the time.
The story did not end there. On 13 July 2021 the Douala Court of Appeal ordered both women released from prison while their appeal was pending. By then they had spent about five months behind bars, most of it in New Bell prison. This page explains what happened, the law behind the case, and why rights groups saw it as part of a wider pattern.
What happened to Shakiro and Patricia
Gendarmes arrested the two women in Douala on 8 February 2021. Reports from LGBT rights organisations at the time said the arrest followed their presence in a restaurant dressed in women's clothing. Nothing in the public record suggests they were caught in any sexual act, which is why the charge took the unusual form of an attempt.
A court ordered them held in pretrial detention, and a request for bail was refused in March. According to Human Rights Watch, activists and lawyers said the pair were beaten and threatened while in custody. Their trial ran through the spring, and the verdict came in May 2021.
Shakiro already had a public profile. She had built a following online by posting about her life as a transgender woman in a country where that visibility carries real risk, which helped international media pick up the case quickly.
The law used against them
Cameroon's first penal code, adopted in 1965, did not criminalise consensual relations between people of the same sex. That changed in September 1972, when President Ahmadou Ahidjo issued an ordinance adding a new article to the code, before a new National Assembly had even been elected. The provision, long known as Article 347 bis and later renumbered 347-1, punishes sexual relations between people of the same sex with up to five years in prison and a fine.
Cameroon has no legal process for changing gender on official documents. In practice, that leaves transgender people exposed twice over: police and courts tend to read a trans woman as a man, and then treat her appearance or her company as evidence of a crime. A separate 2010 cybercrime law also punishes online propositions to people of the same sex.
Cameroon is far from alone. Around 30 African countries criminalised same-sex relations in 2021, though the number has shifted over the years as some states repealed old colonial-era laws and others tightened theirs.
The lawyer who took the case
The women were defended by Alice Nkom, one of the best-known lawyers in Central Africa. Born in 1945, she began practising in 1969 and became one of the first women admitted to the Cameroonian bar. In 2003 she founded ADEFHO, an association that defends people prosecuted for homosexuality, and in 2014 the German section of Amnesty International gave her its human rights award.
Nkom argued that the verdict had little to do with evidence. Speaking to Reuters after the sentencing, she described it as "a political decision", saying the order came from the central government in Yaounde. She announced an appeal immediately, and two months later won the women's release pending that appeal.
A wider crackdown in 2020 and 2021
Rights groups treated the case as one part of a larger wave. In April 2021, Human Rights Watch documented arrests, beatings or threats against at least 24 people in Cameroon since February of that year, including a 17-year-old boy. Among the incidents it listed:
- In Bertoua on 14 February 2021, twelve young people were arrested at a restaurant and released the same day.
- In Bafoussam on 24 February 2021, thirteen people were detained, among them seven staff members of an HIV organisation; all were freed within days.
- The next day, also in Bafoussam, police forced a 26-year-old transgender woman to undergo an HIV test and an anal examination.
- In May 2020, 53 people were arrested at a gathering in a Bafoussam hotel, and several, including teenagers, were subjected to forced anal exams.
Forced anal examinations have no medical value as proof of sexual activity. Human Rights Watch describes them as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment that can amount to torture. Neela Ghoshal, then associate LGBT rights director at the organisation, warned that the law "puts LGBT people at a heightened risk of being mistreated, tortured, and assaulted" and urged the government to repeal it.
Why the case drew international attention
Several features made this prosecution stand out. First, the charge itself: "attempted homosexuality" shows how far authorities could stretch a law aimed at sexual acts to cover the way someone dresses and presents in public. Second, the sentence was the harshest available, handed to two people for whom no act was alleged. Third, the women were transgender, which meant they were in effect punished for their gender identity under a law that does not even mention it.
The case also illustrates a common misunderstanding. Gender identity and sexual orientation are different things. Being a transgender woman describes who a person is, not whom she is attracted to. Laws that criminalise same-sex conduct are often used against trans people precisely because officials blur that distinction.
Reading news like this carefully
Coverage of cases like this one tends to fade once the first headline has run. A few habits help readers keep track of what is actually known:
- Separate the accusation from the person. "Attempted homosexuality" is the state's charge, not a description of who Shakiro and Patricia are. Using the names and pronouns they use is simple accuracy.
- Follow the dates. A conviction, a release pending appeal and a final appeal judgment are three different events. Reporting that stops at the sentence leaves out the July 2021 release.
- Look for primary documentation. Groups such as Human Rights Watch publish detailed accounts with dates and places, which are more reliable than viral social media posts.
- Watch the law, not only the case. The real driver here is Article 347-1. As long as it stands, similar prosecutions remain possible.
Where things stand
Public reporting confirms the arrest in February 2021, the five-year sentence in May and the court-ordered release in July. Later reports on the outcome of the appeal are sparse, so any claim about a final judgment should be treated with caution unless it comes with a dated, credible source.
What has not changed is the law. Same-sex relations remain a crime in Cameroon, and local activists continue to report arrests. Campaigners such as Alice Nkom have spent decades arguing that the 1972 ordinance was imposed without parliamentary debate and conflicts with Cameroon's own constitutional guarantees of privacy and equality. Their argument, and the experience of Shakiro and Patricia, remain at the centre of that debate.
Sources: Human Rights Watch: Cameroon wave of arrests and abuse against LGBT people (April 2021); Rights Africa: court orders Shakiro and Patricia freed (July 2021); Wikipedia: LGBT rights in Cameroon; Wikipedia: Alice Nkom. Lawyer's comments as reported by Reuters (May 2021).
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