Senegal issues first sentence under harsher anti-LGBT law

A court in Pikine-Guédiawaye, a suburb of Dakar, has handed down Senegal’s first conviction under a new law that sharply increases penalties for same-sex relations, raising alarm among human rights and LGBTQ+ advocates.

On Friday, the court sentenced a 24-year-old laborer to six years in prison and imposed a fine of 2 million CFA francs (about $3,300) for “acts against nature and public indecency.” He had been arrested earlier this month, Ap News reports.

Senegal, a predominantly Muslim country, recently strengthened its criminal code to expand penalties for homosexuality, raising prison terms to between five and 10 years. The legislation also criminalizes what it describes as the “promotion” or “financing” of homosexuality, provisions widely viewed as targeting organizations that support sexual and gender minorities and provide essential services and advocacy.

Larissa Kojoué, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, told The Associated Press that the measure has produced a climate of “constant fear,” with arrests becoming more forceful “because now there is backing from the state apparatus.” Activists warn that the law will drive LGBTQ+ people further underground, heighten vulnerability to violence and extortion, and obstruct access to health care and legal protection.

More than 30 of Africa’s 54 nations still criminalize consensual same-sex conduct. In Somalia, Uganda and Mauritania, such offenses can carry the death penalty, a trend rights groups say is moving the continent further away from equality and fundamental freedoms for LGBTQ+ people.