Senegal doubles prison sentence terms for same-sex relations

Senegal’s National Assembly has approved legislation that doubles the maximum prison sentence for same-sex relations from five to 10 years, deepening concerns about the safety and rights of LGBTQ people in the country.

The bill, adopted on Wednesday by 135 votes to none with three abstentions, now awaits the signature of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye. It maintains same-sex relations as a misdemeanour under Senegalese law but significantly increases penalties and broadens the scope of criminalization, France 24 reports.

Under the new provisions, so‑called “acts against nature” — a phrase used in Senegal to target consensual same-sex relations — will carry prison terms of five to 10 years, up from the previous one to five years. Courts will be empowered to impose the maximum sentence in cases involving minors. Financial penalties are also sharply raised, from a previous range of 100,000 to 1.5 million CFA francs to between 2 million and 10 million CFA francs (approximately $3,500 to $17,600).

The law goes beyond direct prosecution of same-sex relations. It introduces prison terms of three to seven years for anyone accused of “promoting,” “advocating” or financing same-sex relationships, effectively targeting human-rights defenders, health workers, and LGBT advocacy groups. At the same time, it adds an offence for those who falsely accuse others of same-sex conduct “without proof,” a provision adopted amid rising public denunciations.

Rights observers report a sharp escalation in arrests since February, when police detained 12 men, including two well‑known local figures, in what became the first in a series of highly publicized crackdowns. Local media and activists say detentions frequently follow phone searches and unverified accusations, with names and photos often splashed across social networks and tabloid headlines such as “Big homo clean-up” and “Bisexuals, walking dangers.”

During parliamentary debate, rhetoric hostile to LGBTQ people was openly applauded. “Homosexuals will no longer breathe in this country. Homosexuals will no longer have freedom of expression in this country,” lawmaker Diaraye Ba declared from the rostrum, to cheers from some colleagues — remarks that have heightened fears among LGBTQ individuals and human-rights advocates.

The law’s presentation to parliament by Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko is politically significant. Before taking office in 2024, Sonko had promised to recast same-sex relations as a more serious criminal category, but the new statute instead preserves their misdemeanour status while sharply raising penalties. Opposition figures have seized on this to accuse him of failing to fully deliver on his earlier pledge, even as rights groups condemn the bill as a grave setback for basic freedoms.

The crackdown has unfolded against a backdrop of growing homophobic discourse in the Muslim-majority West African nation, where religious associations have held rallies demanding stiffer sanctions and where LGBTQ equality is often framed by opponents as a foreign “Western” agenda. Social media in recent weeks have been saturated with calls to identify and expose people suspected of same-sex activity, blurring lines between legitimate public discourse and incitement to violence.

Further fuelling stigma, some recent coverage has conflated arrests for consensual same-sex conduct with an unrelated child sexual abuse case in which authorities dismantled a gang accused of violence against minors and detained 14 suspects. Public‑health advocates have also raised alarm over cases in which those arrested for same-sex relations are accused of deliberately transmitting HIV, compounding discrimination and undermining access to testing and treatment.

Senegal’s move reinforces a broader pattern of legal repression of LGBTQ communities across the continent. At least 32 of Africa’s 54 countries still criminalize same-sex relations. Some, including Uganda, Mauritania and Somalia, retain the death penalty for certain same-sex acts, while around 10 other countries or territories — among them Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania and Sierra Leone — impose sentences that can range from 10 years to life in prison.

International and regional human-rights organizations have urged Senegal’s authorities to reverse course, arguing that the new law violates fundamental rights to privacy, equality and freedom of expression, and will expose LGBTQ people and those who support them to heightened violence, blackmail and social exclusion. They are calling on President Faye not to sign the bill and instead to begin dismantling laws that criminalize consensual same-sex relations, in line with emerging global and African human-rights norms.