Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has approved a bill that doubles the maximum prison term for same-sex acts to 10 years and criminalises any promotion of homosexuality, allowing the measure to take effect immediately.
The new legislation expands an existing penal code article on “acts against nature,” increasing penalties to up to 10 years in jail and fines of up to 10 million CFA francs ($17,000). It explicitly lists homosexuality, bisexuality, “transsexuality,” zoophilia and necrophilia as offences, and adds punishment for anyone found guilty of promoting or financing such acts.
Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko had promised a stricter anti-LGBT law during their successful 2024 election campaign. A government statement issued on Monday and distributed by a spokesperson on Tuesday confirmed the approval.
The move came despite pressure from international human rights groups urging Faye not to sign the bill. United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk had warned on March 12 that the legislation “flies in the face of the sacrosanct human rights we all enjoy: the rights to respect, dignity, privacy, equality and freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly.”
The period before the National Assembly’s vote on the bill was marked by a surge in arrests of men suspected of “acts against nature” and, in some cases, “voluntary transmission” of HIV, which carries up to 10 years in prison.
The presidency has not issued further comment on the law’s implementation.
