Alice Nkom

Alice Nkom

Alice Nkom (2010)
Born 1945
Putkak, Cameroon
Nationality Cameroonian
Occupation lawyer
Known for LGBT advocacy, first black female lawyer in Cameroon

Alice Nkom is a Cameroonian lawyer, well known for her advocacy towards decriminalization of homosexuality in Cameroon.[1][2][3] She studied law in Toulouse and has been a lawyer in Douala [4] since 1969. At the age of 24, she was the first black woman called to the bar in Cameroon.[5]

Her work involved the defence in a variety of situations, including young victims of police violence, but she became best known for her defence of people accused of homosexuality (criminalized in Cameroon). In 2003 she founded ADEFHO: the Association for the Defence of Homosexuality, and she became more and more the shining example of a "ally to the LGBT cause".
In January 2011, she was threatened with arrest by a representative of Cameroon's Ministry of Communication after ADEFHO was awarded a €300,000 grant by the European Union.[6] Later that year, she represented Jean-Claude Roger Mbede, a man imprisoned for three years for "homosexuality and attempted homosexuality" following a series of SMS messages to a male acquaintance,[6] and who was named a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.[7]

In 2006 and 2013, she was a keynote speaker at the Human Rights conferences that took place in conjunction with the OutGames, in Montréal Canada (2006) and Antwerp Belgium (2013).[8] In March 2014, Alice Nkom was awarded with the "7. Menschenrechtspreis" (7th human rights award) by the German section of Amnesty International.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Duparc, Agathe (2010-03-22). "Au Cameroun, une avocate dénonce la répression de l'homosexualité". Le Monde (in French).
  2. ↑ Flick (2011-01-19). "Campaña de hostigamiento contra Alice Nkom, luchadora a favor de los derechos de gays y lesbianas en Camerún". Dos Manzanas (in Spanish).
  3. ↑ "Cameroon Human Rights – Alice Nkom to be arrested". Cameroon Today. January 2011.
  4. ↑ BIO Speakers Human Rights Conference Antwerp, 2013
  5. ↑ http://www.fiertemontrealpride.com/fierte/presidents-dhonneur/
  6. 1 2 Andrew Harmon (28 November 2011). "A Lone Activist Crusades for Change in Cameroon". The Advocate. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
  7. ↑ "Prisoner of Conscience, Imprisoned for Homosexuality". Amnesty International. 2011. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
  8. ↑ BIO Speakers at the Human Rights Conference in Antwerp, 2013
  9. ↑ "7. Menschenrechtspreis (in German)". Amnesty International. 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2014.

External links


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