toward increased repression of homosexuality with a new law

Proposal comes amid widespread arrests of accused gay men in Senegal 

On Feb. 18, the government of Senegal announced it has “adopted” a new bill that, if passed by parliament, would toughen penalties for LGBT+ people guilty of “unnatural” acts.

Senegal has long been on a path toward increasing criminal penalties for homosexuality, as initiatives on this issue have been presented to the country’s various legislators regularly since 2016, notably under Mame Mactar Gueye, who represents the conservative NGO Jamra.

Current Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko had already promised in 2022 to make the repression of homosexuality his main focus, while he was still in the opposition.

Currently, under Article 319.3 of the Senegal Penal Code, anyone who commits an “unnatural act with an individual of the same sex” is liable to imprisonment for 1 to 5 years and a fine of between 100,000 and 1,500,000 CFA francs (approximately $180 to $3000 USD).

The government also said the bill would cleared define “unnatural acts”.

In addition, the government plans to target LGBT advocacy organizations by introducing a new crime of “promoting” homosexuality either with words or money.

For example, a journalist publishing an article deemed favorable to LGBT+ rights could find themselves in violation of the law.

The text of the proposal is not yet available. It will have to be put to a vote by members of parliament before it becomes law.

Previous proposals to criminalize homosexuality put forward in 2024 by lawmaker Cheikh Abdou Bara Dolly Mbacké called for the introduction of a crime of “bisexuality, transsexuality, necrophilia, and zoophilia ” punishable by 10 to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to 5 million CFA francs (approximately $8,300 USD) in a country where the average monthly income was approximately $225 USD.

The president of the Senegalese National Assembly, El Malick Ndiaye, has already said that he “will not block the law on the criminalization of homosexuality,” according to Seneweb. This comes in a context where two other Sahel countries, Mali and Burkina Faso, have successively criminalized same-sex relationships in 2025.

Professor Gilbert Faye, a lecturer and researcher at the Faculty of Legal and Political Sciences (FSJP) of Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar (UCAD), interviewed by the Senegalese press, says that “a blanket criminalization could conflict with the constitutional principle of non-discrimination as well as with Senegal’s international commitments.”

Indeed, the anal tests recently used to verify the sexual orientation of individuals under judicial authority are a clear violation of Article 7 of the Senegalese Constitution, which stipulates that “every individual has the right to bodily integrity,” as 76 Crimes documented in December.

Daily anti-LGBT+ arrests

While the legislative aspect is being refined, on the ground, the Senegalese police are mobilized to carry out large-scale anti-gay raids with daily arrests accompanied by systematic screening of those charged, resulting in the disclosure in the press of the HIV status of suspects accused of spreading HIV among the population.

Currently, the Senegalese press reports that around 30 people are in custody following the first wave of arrests on February 4, which saw 12 people brought before the courts following an intervention by the Keur Massar gendarmerie in the suburbs of Dakar.

Further searches, police custody and remand orders followed on February 12, 14, 18 and 20, in what appears to be an attempt by the local authorities to crack down hard in order to dismantle networks of “criminal association,” as stated in the charges brought in all of these cases.