Senegal Detains 12 Men Under Anti-Gay and HIV Criminalization Laws
Dakar, Senegal – Senegalese authorities detained 12 men in the capital on February 9, charging them with “acts against nature” and the alleged intentional transmission of HIV. The case has renewed scrutiny of the country’s laws criminalizing same-sex relations and their impact on public health and human rights.
The men were arrested by gendarmes in Dakar. Under Article 319 of Senegal’s Penal Code, which prohibits “acts against nature,” consensual same-sex conduct is punishable by up to five years in prison and fines ranging from 100,000 to 1,500,000 CFA francs (approximately US$180 to 2,700). The additional charge of intentional HIV transmission carries a potential sentence of up to ten years in prison.
Human Rights Watch reports that the arrests have intensified fear within Senegal’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. One activist noted that community health workers are deeply concerned that if their contact information is found on the detained men’s phones, they could face legal repercussions. This climate of fear is exacerbated by high-profile negative media coverage of such cases.
Hostility toward LGBT people has escalated in recent years. Parliamentary attempts to increase penalties for “acts against nature” occurred in both 2022 and 2024, though unsuccessfully. In a stark example of violence, a mob in Kaolack exhumed the body of a man believed to be gay in October 2023, dragged it through the streets, and burned it in the town square. Videos of the incident circulated widely online.
Legal experts and human rights organizations state that criminalizing consensual same-sex conduct violates internationally protected rights to equality and nondiscrimination. Furthermore, practices linked to these prosecutions—such as using condoms, lubricants, or HIV treatment as evidence of same-sex conduct, forced HIV testing, and publishing an individual’s HIV status—breach privacy rights. These tactics deter people from seeking essential HIV prevention and treatment, undermining public health efforts.
Senegal is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, all of which obligate the state to protect against discrimination. Rights groups are calling on the Senegalese government to release the 12 men detained in Dakar and to repeal the discriminatory laws that enable such prosecutions. The case highlights the ongoing tension between national legislation and international human rights standards in the region.
