Article translated from French with Deepl.com
The West African country, which has been swept up in a wave of homophobia following two criminal cases in early February, has just adopted draconian anti-LGBT laws. An oppressive atmosphere that threatens the fight against HIV.
“We can’t eat or sleep; we’re stressed, we’re exhausted. I stay at home, I shut myself away. I switch off the television, my phone, everything,” explains Momo*, a young man whose life has become a living hell in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. On Wednesday 11 March, parliament passed a law tightening penalties against homosexuals and any organisations supporting them. The measure raises fears of a setback in the fight against HIV in this country of 34 million people, where the disease spreads mainly within this community.
The law was passed unanimously – only three MPs abstained – and was accompanied by inflammatory speeches from elected representatives. “I am speaking to the international community. Homosexuals will no longer be able to breathe in this country. Homosexuals will no longer have freedom of expression in this country,” insisted MP Diaraye Bâ.
The maximum prison sentence for “unnatural acts” has been increased from five to ten years, and the fine can now reach 10 million CFA francs (the equivalent of 13,800 Swiss francs). The bill goes further and creates two new offences: advocating for, and funding, entities and activities aimed at promoting or glorifying homosexuality, bisexuality and transsexuality. The UN has strongly condemned the new law, and Amnesty International believes the existing penalties were sufficient, says the director of the local branch, Seydi Gassama: “Five years in Senegalese prisons is an extremely harsh sentence.”
A climate of persecution and denunciation
While the law is cause for concern, the wave of homophobia had already begun in early February when two criminal cases shocked public opinion in this country, 80% of whose population is Muslim. Twelve homosexuals were arrested for unnatural acts and criminal conspiracy, including several celebrities and, notably, the television presenter Pape Cheikh Diallo. From messages to photos, investigators are tracking down gay men in the ‘network’. For weeks, arrests have been mounting – now numbering around forty – and making the headlines, sometimes with the suspects’ names and HIV status. The police have claimed that several allegedly knowingly transmitted HIV. “The police don’t know what they’re doing. The person accused of deliberate transmission might have an undetectable viral load, so they can’t transmit HIV,” protests Momo, who points out that medical confidentiality and the secrecy of the investigation have been flouted here.
The Pierre Robert case, which broke at the same time, has further fuelled public hatred. The Frenchman is alleged to have recruited Senegalese gay men to initiate vulnerable young boys into sex, film them and force them into prostitution, with a stated intention of transmitting HIV. Fourteen people have been arrested between Dakar and Kaolack. And for Seydi Gassama, the conflation is inevitable: “In the eyes of public opinion, you cannot separate these situations: unnatural acts, paedophilia, and the deliberate transmission of HIV/AIDS.”
Consequently, gay men are going into hiding or fleeing to Gambia and Mauritania to escape what some describe as the worst homophobic crisis the country has ever experienced. Papi* is not gay, but he works regularly with them through the HIV testing and support association he set up in a provincial town in central Senegal, and for this he has received threats. He has moved away because he fears for his life.
Avoiding any association with homosexuality
“For all the HIV-positive people who were taking medication, lives are now being lost; they no longer even agree to come and collect it,” he confides. Some patients even return their boxes, for fear of being identified as homosexual. The threat to the fight against HIV is real, even though Senegal is seen as a model on the continent, with prevalence reduced to 0.3% of the population. The number of deaths has been falling steadily over the last twenty years, but new infections rose during the Covid pandemic, reaching 2,979 people in 2024.
Footfall at HIV-dedicated centres has fallen, but testing has increased as many internet users post their serological results online. In this climate of stigmatisation, lists of suspected homosexuals and presidents of HIV-related associations have been shared, notably by the Islamic NGO Jamra, which provided 600 names to the gendarmerie. Online influencers, such as Idy Missionnaire, go so far as to publish people’s phone numbers, addresses and photos. “A friend of mine who is president of an association in Saint-Louis saw the gendarmerie turn up at his home to arrest him, but he fled to Mauritania,” says Papi. “I’m not going to wait for the police to come and get me. They’re hunting us down one by one.” Many organisations have shut down their websites and telephone lines, with patients becoming threatening in their demands to be removed from the registers.
The public outcry is even worrying the government, and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has warned against the publication of serological status in the press. Seydi Gassama, who has also been targeted by an online smear campaign, nevertheless welcomes a clause in the law introducing the offence of slanderous denunciation, now punishable by two to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to 500,000 CFA francs (690 francs).
