Alice Nkom is a Cameroonian lawyer with an imposing presence, but her country's minister of justice is less impressed; he wants her struck off the professional register. Advocates in Cameroon have said she should be killed. Defending men or women accused of homosexuality is not a popular cause in central Africa. Threats arrive by email and telephone. The situation, Nkom warns, is becoming more dangerous. The Cameroon government has introduced a bill to the national assembly that would give formal, political backing to section 347 of the country's penal code that criminalizes consensual sex between adults of the same gender.

"It's getting worse," Nkom told the Guardian during a visit to London. "These laws are illegal - the declaration of human rights is part of our constitution - but the judges still apply them. It's very difficult to prove you have had sex. Under the procedural code you cannot be put in jail unless caught in delecto flagrante. "But they always put people accused of homosexuality in jail straight away. People are targeted because they wear makeup or looked effeminate. One client was given a three-year sentence because he wrote a text message. It's a very corrupt environment and people get paid for informing on others."

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