Mass Arrests And Prison Terms Fuel Fear For LGBTQ+ People In Senegal

Senegal’s escalating crackdown on LGBTQ+ people has taken another alarming turn, with 71 men referred to a criminal court following a major investigation targeting people accused of same-sex intimacy.

The case forms part of a much broader wave of repression that has swept the West African country throughout 2026, alongside the introduction of a law dramatically increasing penalties for consensual same-sex sexual activity and criminalising the so-called “promotion” of homosexuality.

The current case involved 99 men.

An investigating judge dismissed the charges against 28 of them, while the remaining 71 were referred to the Pikine-Guédiawaye Criminal Court.

They face charges including criminal conspiracy and what Senegalese law describes as “acts against nature”.

The public prosecutor has appealed the judge’s decision, having sought to send all 99 men to court on the full range of alleged offences. That means the legal position of the 28 men whose charges were dismissed may not yet be resolved.

HIV Allegations Dismissed

The investigating judge also dismissed some of the most serious allegations levelled during the investigation, including claims of endangering other people and intentionally transmitting HIV.

Those accusations caused particular alarm among HIV and LGBTQ+ advocates because of the danger of reinforcing stigma that falsely associates HIV with criminality or with gay and bisexual men.

A person’s HIV status does not establish criminal intent. People living with HIV can also live long and healthy lives when they have access to effective treatment.

Modern antiretroviral medication can reduce the amount of HIV in the body to an undetectable level. A person who achieves and maintains an undetectable viral load cannot sexually transmit HIV — a scientifically established principle known as U=U, or Undetectable = Untransmittable.

Against a backdrop of widespread fear and stigma, advocates have warned that connecting HIV with criminal investigations targeting LGBTQ+ people risks driving communities away from testing, treatment and other essential healthcare.

Crackdown Expands To Women

The arrests have not been limited to men.

Eight women were reportedly arrested in the Pikine-Guédiawaye area in late July in a separate case linked to an investigation into suspected same-sex relationships.

Their detention has increased concerns that women perceived to be lesbian or bisexual are becoming more visible targets of enforcement as the crackdown widens.

The women reportedly faced a range of allegations, including “acts against nature” and criminal conspiracy. Their arrests were separate from the group of 99 men involved in the current court case.

For many LGBTQ+ Senegalese, the escalating enforcement has created an environment in which private messages, personal relationships and ordinary social connections can expose people to police scrutiny.

Reports throughout 2026 have described LGBTQ+ people going into hiding, leaving their communities or avoiding healthcare because they fear being identified, arrested or publicly exposed.

Senegal Doubles Prison Terms For Same-Sex Activity

The current repression intensified after President Bassirou Diomaye Faye signed sweeping new anti-LGBTQ+ legislation into law at the end of March.

Under the strengthened law, consensual same-sex sexual activity can carry prison sentences of between five and 10 years, compared with the previous range of one to five years.

Maximum fines were also increased to 10 million CFA francs.

The law extends beyond sexual activity. It introduces prison sentences for what authorities describe as the “promotion” or financing of homosexuality, raising serious concerns for LGBTQ+ organisations, human-rights advocates and groups providing health services.

United Nations human-rights chief Volker Türk criticised the legislation before it took effect, warning that it threatened fundamental rights including dignity, privacy, equality, freedom of expression and freedom of association.

First Convictions Have Already Followed

The strengthened law has already been used to imprison people.

In April, a 24-year-old labourer became the first person known to be convicted under the new legislation.

The Pikine-Guédiawaye court sentenced him to six years in prison and fined him two million CFA francs after convicting him of “acts against nature” and public indecency.

The speed with which arrests and convictions followed the law’s introduction has fuelled fears that authorities have been given even greater scope to target people based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation.

Human-rights organisations have described the resulting atmosphere as one of constant fear for LGBTQ+ people, with arrests becoming increasingly aggressive as authorities enforce the new law.

HIV Services Are Being Hit

One of the most serious consequences of the crackdown is emerging in public health.

Health workers and organisations involved in HIV prevention have reported people avoiding clinics because they fear that seeking testing or treatment could expose their sexuality or HIV status to authorities.

Attendance at some HIV services dropped sharply during the early months of the crackdown.

That creates risks extending far beyond the LGBTQ+ community.

Successful HIV prevention depends on people being able to access testing, PrEP, treatment and sexual-health services without fear of arrest, discrimination or public exposure.

When people are frightened away from healthcare, infections are more likely to remain undiagnosed and untreated.

Public-health experts have repeatedly warned that punitive laws and criminalisation undermine HIV prevention by creating precisely the fear and mistrust that make communities less likely to seek care.

Attempt To Constitutionally Restrict Marriage Was Blocked

Senegalese lawmakers also attempted this year to place an opposite-sex definition of marriage into the country’s Constitution.

On 29 June, the National Assembly voted unanimously among the 129 members who participated to approve a wider package of constitutional reforms. The package included language defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

However, the proposal did not take effect.

On 9 July, Senegal’s Constitutional Council ruled that the required amendment procedure had not been followed and declared the wider reform package unconstitutional.

Same-sex marriage was already not legally recognised in Senegal, but it was not constitutionally banned through the failed amendment.

The proposal nevertheless demonstrated the extent to which opposition to LGBTQ+ rights has become embedded in the country’s political agenda.

A Wider West African Backslide

Senegal’s crackdown forms part of a troubling regional trend.

Several West African countries have introduced or proposed stronger legislation targeting same-sex relationships, gender diversity and LGBTQ+ advocacy in recent years.

Human-rights campaigners warn that these laws do much more than regulate private sexual behaviour.

They can legitimise discrimination, encourage harassment and violence, restrict freedom of expression and make it increasingly difficult for LGBTQ+ people to access housing, employment and healthcare safely.

Senegal already criminalised same-sex sexual activity before 2026. The new law has substantially increased both the available penalties and the state’s ability to pursue organisations, advocates and health services accused of “promoting” homosexuality.

For LGBTQ+ communities in Australia, the developments are a stark reminder that legal equality remains far from universal.

Although debates about rainbow rights are sometimes treated as abstract political disagreements, the situation in Senegal demonstrates what criminalisation means in practice: arrests, imprisonment, interrupted healthcare, public exposure and people being forced to hide who they are.

With 71 men now heading to court, prosecutors continuing to pursue the wider group and eight women arrested in a separate case, the pressure on Senegal’s LGBTQ+ community shows little sign of easing.