Human Rights

Barbara Marchevsky and Olivia Cares

Barbara Marchevsky and Olivia Cares assisted a Cameroonian woman who sought asylum in the United States after becoming a target of state violence directed at activists in the “anglophone” region of Cameroon. Although she was simply a member of a student health advocacy group, she was misidentified as a protester and arrested with a large group of students protesting suppression of the region by the francophone dominating party. She was then driven into the bush where she and the other female students were violently raped, resulting in her hospitalization and ultimately blinding her in one eye.

Attempts to levy complaints with the local and national police forces were met with additional detentions and threats. When police groups began to frequent her home to make repeated threats to her family, she decided to leave the country. The client’s claim for asylum was submitted in 2018, she had her interview in 2019 and she was granted affirmative asylum in the United States in July of 2020.

Today she works in the healthcare field and is studying to obtain her nursing degree. She has expressed profound gratitude to her team, which also included Nicole Moen and Matthew Webster, and to the firm for always being there for her as she navigated the United States asylum, visa and work authorization systems.