A brutal attack on two transgender women in Cameroon occurred just weeks after a court ordered the women, Shakiro and Patricia, released from prison pending their appeal of a five-year sentence on arbitrary “homosexuality” charges. The attack is a stark reminder that whether or not they are behind bars, transgender people in Cameroon are not free. Shakiro told Human Rights Watch that a violent mob attacked her and Patricia on August 8 at about 1 a.m. in Douala, Cameroon’s economic capital. The attackers pulled them out of a taxi, insulted and threatened them with death, and beat them for about 30 minutes before fleeing when gendarmes intervened. A video circulated on social media captured the assault. “I was stripped naked and hit everywhere on my body by several people,” Shakiro said. “I was kicked and slapped. I had to play dead – it was the only way to survive.”