Senegal has increased the maximum penalty for same-sex activity to 10 years in prison

Senegal’s National Assembly on Wednesday evening decisively approved a bill that increases the maximum prison sentence for same-sex sexual acts to 10 years and makes it illegal to promote homosexuality.

The law, which was approved by a unanimous vote of 135 to zero, with three abstentions, fulfills a campaign promise made by the government that took office in 2024, under the leadership of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko. It is now pending Faye’s signature.

Senegal’s penal code includes an article, last amended in 1966, that imposes penalties of up to five years in prison and fines reaching 1,500,000 CFA francs ($2,700) for “acts against nature.”.

The updated version extends the maximum term and permits fines reaching up to 10 million CFA francs.

ANTI-LGBT LEGISLATION INCREASES IN WEST AFRICA

A judge is not permitted to grant a suspended sentence or exercise discretion to reduce a prison term below the minimum threshold.

It indicates that actions against nature pertain to homosexuality, bisexuality, “transsexuality,” zoophilia, and necrophilia.

Individuals convicted of promoting or financing such acts may also be sentenced to prison.

Imam Babacar Sylla, leader of And Samm Jikko Yi, a network of Islamic and civil society organizations, urged Faye to sign the bill into law as soon as possible. “The longer it takes, the more complicated it will be.” “These individuals, whom I view as a threat to the public, will persist in evading consequences,” he stated.

In the weeks prior to Wednesday’s vote, advocates of the bill, including legislators from the ruling Pastef party, arranged demonstrations in Dakar where participants chanted “No to homosexuality!” and displayed signs featuring rainbows crossed out.

The period has also seen a notable increase in the arrests of men suspected of “acts against nature,” along with, in certain instances, “voluntary transmission” of HIV—a crime that can result in a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

According to the International Federation for Human Rights, 27 men were arrested between February 9 and 24.

In the previous year, Burkina Faso enacted legislation that criminalizes same-sex sexual relations for the first time, establishing prison sentences of up to five years.

Ghanaian lawmakers are deliberating on increasing the maximum penalty for same-sex sexual acts from three years to five, as well as introducing jail time for the “wilful promotion, sponsorship, or support of LGBTQ+ activities.”