Senegal PM proposes tougher anti-LGBT law, doubling prison terms

Senegal’s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has introduced legislation that could double the maximum penalty for same-sex relations, making them punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The proposal was sent to parliament on Tuesday after cabinet approval last week, after a wave of arrests over alleged same-sex relationships, already banned under Senegal law.

Addressing lawmakers, Sonko said the bill would punish what it describes as “acts against nature” with prison sentences ranging from five to 10 years, compared with the current one- to five-year terms.

“If an act is committed with a minor, it will attract the maximum penalty,” he said. The bill has been criticised by rights advocates.

Debate over LGBT rights has long generated tension in Senegal, a conservative country where some groups portray pro-LGBT activism as foreign interference.

Religious organisations have held demonstrations in recent years calling for harsher punishments.

Earlier this month, police detained 12 men, among them two public figures and a prominent journalist, under anti-LGBT laws. Local media outlets say around 30 people have been arrested in total this month.

Sonko explained that the draft law defines any sexual conduct between two people of the same sex as an “act against nature”.

The bill proposes prison terms of three to seven years for anyone found to be promoting or advocating same-sex relations.

It also prescribes separate punishment for those who accuse others of homosexuality “without proof”.

Those found guilty of crimes in the bill could also face fines up to 10 million CFA francs (about $18,000; £13,000), Sonko added.

Sonko said the revised law would keep the offence at its current misdemeanour level.

“We can achieve the intended objectives without going so far as to elevate the acts to the level of more serious crimes,” he added.

A date has yet to be set for parliament to vote on the bill, in a chamber controlled by Sonko’s Pastef party.

Sonko, a former firebrand opposition leader appointed prime minister in 2024, had pledged to criminalise same-sex relations in the Muslim-majority country.

Human Rights Watch said the recent anti-LGBT crackdown violated “multiple internationally protected rights,” including equality and nondiscrimination.

Several African countries have also introduced similar sanctions against the LGBT community in recent years. In September last year, Burkina Faso’s transitional parliament approved a bill banning homosexual acts, following its neighbour Mali in 2024.

In 2023, Uganda voted in some of the world’s harshest anti-homosexual legislation meaning that anybody engaging in certain same-sex acts can be sentenced to death.