security and defense forces

ABSTRACT Côte d’Ivoire is known throughout West Africa as the most tolerant country, where gay, lesbian and transgender people from all backgrounds do not have to fear the same kind of systematic violence or opprobrium that plagues them elsewhere in the region. Yet for all this openness, the country is hardly an oasis: sex workers and men who have sex with men continue to encounter often violent stigmatization, the manifestation of a culture of ignorance and suspicion, particularly within the security and defense forces.

ABSTRACT Côte d’Ivoire is known throughout West Africa as the most tolerant country, where gay, lesbian and transgender people from all backgrounds do not have to fear the same kind of systematic violence or opprobrium that plagues them elsewhere in the region. Yet for all this openness, the country is hardly an oasis: sex workers and men who have sex with men continue to encounter often violent stigmatization, the manifestation of a culture of ignorance and suspicion, particularly within the security and defense forces.