In a troubling development, Senegal is moving to heighten persecution of its LGBTQ+ citizens after lawmakers voted to double the existing prison sentence for homosexuality.
Senegal’s National Assembly overwhelmingly passed a bill on Wednesday that would increase the penalties for same-sex intimacy to up to ten years in prison.
The bill also seeks to criminalise the so-called “promotion of LGBT ideology”, effectively outlawing any advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights under threat of imprisonment.
Tougher Laws Target LGBTQ+ People
Same-sex sexual activity was first criminalised in Senegal in 1966 under the broad term “acts against nature”. The law currently carries prison terms of up to five years and fines, both of which the new bill would substantially increase.
Lawmakers previously introduced similar legislation in 2022 and 2024, but those efforts failed.
The new bill now specifically defines “acts against nature” to include homosexuality, bisexuality, transsexuality, zoophilia and necrophilia.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye supports the legislation and is expected to sign it into law.
Growing Crackdown on LGBTQ+ Community
The bill’s passage comes amid a heightened crackdown on LGBTQ+ people. Media reports indicate that more than 20 individuals have been arrested in the country in the past month alone.
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) warned that the legislation could intensify repression.
The organisation said the bill “marks a new phase in the repression of LGBTIQ+ persons in Senegal, against a backdrop of stigmatising rhetoric and rising tensions.”
FIDH argued that the proposed law constitutes a serious infringement on the freedoms of expression and association and would apply to relationships that fall strictly within the realm of private life.
“Further tightening repression will only fuel violence, fear, and impunity. Senegalese authorities have an obligation to protect all persons without discrimination, not to designate scapegoats”, stated Drissa Traoré, Secretary General of FIDH.
Fears for HIV Response
Activists have also warned that the bill could dramatically undermine decades of progress in fighting HIV/AIDS in Senegal by driving key populations, including men who have sex with men and transgender women, underground.
FIDH highlighted that “The… bill will enshrine discrimination and inequality before the law and place a sword of Damocles over the heads of all Senegalese LGBTIQ+ citizens, their families, organisations supporting people living with HIV, and more broadly, everyone who stands up for their rights.”
