The Senegalese government has moved to significantly tighten its legal stance on same-sex conduct, adopting a draft law that clarifies and strengthens sanctions against what are legally termed “acts against nature.”
Following a Council of Ministers meeting on Wednesday, the Government Information and Communication Office (BIC-GOUV) announced an amendment to Article 319 of the 1965 Penal Code. The proposed reform not only seeks to increase existing penalties but also expands the scope of the law to criminalize the “glorification” and “financing” of such acts.
Government spokesperson Marie Rose Khady Fatou Faye stated that the reform is part of a broader commitment to reinforcing the nation’s criminal legal framework. The legislative shift arrives amid a series of high-profile arrests by the gendarmerie involving individuals accused of “unnatural acts.” These recent cases have been compounded by media reports and legal suspicions regarding the deliberate spread of HIV.
The move also follows intensifying pressure from civil society organizations demanding more explicit criminalization of homosexuality, a topic that has dominated national discourse in recent months.
Having passed the Council of Ministers, the bill will now be forwarded to the National Assembly for debate and final adoption. If passed, it will represent one of the most significant shifts in Senegal’s social and judicial policy in recent years.
AC/Sf/fss/abj/APA