Deloresse
Age about 3512 May 2026
Yaoundé, Mfoundi (Cameroon)
Throat cut
Deloresse's body was found wth unmistakeable signs of violence on the morning of 12th May. She made a living as a hairdresser and sex worker and had been one of the first in Cameroon to come out publicly as trans.
The Cameroonian transgender community is in mourning. Doloresse, an emblematic figure of trans visibility in Cameroon, was found with her throat slit on the morning of May 12 in Yaoundé.
According to initial reports, the perpetrator remains unidentified, and the exact circumstances of the murder are still unclear. Authorities have not yet released any official details, while the LGBTQI+ community expresses shock, anger, fear, and profound sadness.
Doloresse was not a trans woman like any other: she was among the first in Cameroon to come out publicly, at a time when simply expressing one’s gender identity exposed one to extreme violence. Her courage inspired an entire generation of activists, trans youth, and human rights defenders.
Doloresse’s life has been a long journey of suffering and resistance. She has experienced:
- Repeated physical violence, often committed with complete impunity;
- Arbitrary arrests, motivated by institutional transphobia;
- Abusive detentions, the most striking of which was her incarceration about 10 years ago in Yaoundé’s Kondengui Central Prison;
- Family rejection, which forced her to survive alone in a hostile environment; and
- Constant social stigmatization, which followed her in the streets, in public services, and in the neighborhoods where she tried to live.
Her time in Kondengui deeply shocked human rights organizations. She was defended there by Alice Nkom, a leading figure in the fight for the rights of sexual and gender minorities in Cameroon.
Her case brought to light the brutal treatment inflicted on transgender people within the Cameroonian penal system.
Despite the humiliations, beatings, arrests, and rejections, Doloresse continued to live with dignity, affirming her identity and supporting other trans people younger than herself.
She had become, despite herself, a symbol of resilience, a familiar face in community circles, a living memory of the trans struggles in Cameroon.
Her brutal murder serves as a stark reminder of the extreme vulnerability of trans people in the country, exposed to social, police, institutional, and now deadly violence.
https://76crimes.com/2026/06/05/trans-woman-abused/
https://www.africanhrc.org/single-post/transgender-pioneer-doloresse-brutally-murdered
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1570448163283501/posts/4406433123018310/
https://www.instagram.com/p/DYhyXg7iN5t/
https://www.instagram.com/p/DYirklzk25r/
