LGBTQ activists in Ivory Coast raised concerns on Thursday about an increase in verbal and physical assaults, fueled by social media, targeting gay and transgender individuals. Anti-LGBTQ content surged online early last month, driven by rumors of a child abuse case allegedly involving a gay person.
“Since the start of August, around 30 physical homophobic attacks have been recorded” by an umbrella LGBTQ movement in the West African country, Brice Donald Dibahi, founder of NGO Gromo, told AFP.
Unlike many African countries, Ivory Coast does not criminalize gay sex. However, Dibahi, 32, told AFP that while homophobia has always existed, whether on the streets or on social media, he has never witnessed such an escalation.
Louna, the head of the Right To Be Different NGO and a transgender woman, agreed and shared that she had to close her organization’s headquarters. “I’ve never seen a movement of this scale,” the 44-year-old said. Louna is preparing to leave Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s commercial hub, after hearing threatening remarks in her neighborhood, including statements like, “You are corrupting society, so you must not exist.”
This month, five legal complaints have been filed for “assault and battery” or “insults,” mostly related to incidents in Abidjan, according to Dibahi. The political capital, Yamoussoukro, has also been affected, with a local resident reporting threats.
“We’re afraid to go to the market or eat at restaurants because we never know what might happen,” Dibahi said.
On Thursday, Ivory Coast’s national human rights council urged citizens to “renounce violence in expressing disagreements.” The council affirmed its belief that protecting LGBTQ rights “could and should be done” while respecting Ivorian “cultural values.” However, it also advised the LGBTQ community to “avoid any behavior that might be seen as provocative or ostentatious.”
In late 2021, heated debates erupted in parliament when an article of the penal code was adopted, which, contrary to the draft, no longer mentioned “sexual orientation” as a basis for discrimination.
