On 11 March, the National Assembly of Senegal passed legislation by an overwhelming majority that will reportedly double the penalty for consensual same-sex intimacy from five years to ten years. It has also been reported that the new legislation provides for new offences relating to the ‘glorification’ and ‘financing’ of such acts, with a sentence of between three and seven years. The legislation awaits Presidential assent.
Consensual same-sex intimacy has been outlawed in Senegal since 1965. Under Article 319 of the Penal Code 1965, ‘unnatural acts’ between people of the same sex carry a penalty of up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine. Both men and women are criminalised under Article 319. There is substantial evidence of increased enforcement of this provision in recent months, even before the legislative changes were introduced, through several high-profile mass arrests.
In doubling the sentence for private and consensual same-sex intimacy, Senegal is acting in violation not only of its own constitution but of its binding obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and international human rights instruments. These regressive legal changes will leave LGBT Senegalese people even more vulnerable to discrimination, exploitation and violence.
