The Senegalese National Assembly adopted on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, a reform of Article 19 of the Penal Code, which significantly increases penalties for same-sex relations. The amendment was approved by 135 votes, with no opposition and three abstentions.
The new legislation stipulates prison sentences of five to ten years for anyone found guilty of homosexual acts, increasing the previous sentence of one to five years. Fines have also been increased, from 1.5 million to ten million CFA francs. The reform provides a legal clarification by explicitly including sexual relations between persons of the same sex in the concept of "act against nature". In addition, it introduces two new offenses: advocating for homosexuality and financing it, punishable by three to seven years' imprisonment.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called the law harmful and discriminatory, urging President Macky Sall not to enact it. According to him, this legislation violates several fundamental human rights, including respect, dignity, privacy and equality, while threatening freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly. Türk highlighted the potential consequences of the law, including exposing the Senegalese population to hate crimes, abuse, arbitrary arrests, blackmail and widespread discrimination in sectors such as education, health, employment and housing.
President Sall is thus faced with a dilemma: enact the law, risking Senegal's diplomatic isolation, or refuse it, which could lead to a political crisis with the Assembly. This decision will have profound implications for Senegal's place on the international stage and for the protection of human rights on the African continent.
The adoption of this law comes in a context of increased repression against LGBT people in Senegal, with recent arrests and an intensification of hostility towards them. Human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch, have denounced these arrests and called on the government to protect the rights of LGBTQIA+ people. The High Commissioner recalled that the rights threatened by this law are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the human rights treaties to which Senegal is a party.
