More than 320 people have been arrested and detained in Senegal since February on allegations of "acts against nature," in what Human Rights Watch calls an escalating nationwide crackdown that has forced LGBTQ+ people into hiding and driven many away from hospitals, lawyers, and even public life itself. The rights organisation's new report, published this week, paints a picture of systematic repression: mass arrests based on information pulled from confiscated phones, forced HIV testing of detainees, and a sweeping legal overhaul that has made defending the accused a professional risk (The Guardian).
The report lands as one of the most detailed accounts yet of a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ measures spreading across parts of West Africa — and as Senegal prepares to host the 2026 Youth Olympic Games, an event now raising awkward questions about the country's compliance with the Olympic charter's anti-discrimination principles.
Contents
- What the report found
- The law that changed everything
- HIV testing and the health crisis
- Life underground
- The latest arrests
- A regional pattern
- What happens next
- Frequently Asked Questions
What the report found
Human Rights Watch interviewed 39 people in Senegal — former detainees, lawyers, doctors, journalists, civil-society representatives, and members of the country's queer community — to build its picture of the crackdown. The organisation said it could not independently establish the total number of arrests, but Senegalese rights group RADDHO recorded at least 212 arrests between February and July, while the HIV Justice Network reported more than 300 over the same period (The Guardian).
Police have made the arrests across the country using information extracted from seized mobile phones, allegations from third parties, and raids on private premises, according to the report. Investigators have allegedly leaked details of ongoing investigations — including detainees' HIV status — to the media, exposing the accused to stigma, family rejection, threats, and possible violence.
"LGBTQ+ people are being forced to curb their normal activities … for fear of arrest and increased stigma," said Larissa Kojoué, HRW's LGBTQ+ rights researcher. "Senegal's government should call a halt to this crackdown, which threatens everyone's rights."
The law that changed everything
The intensification traces directly to March, when Senegal's parliament amended Article 319 of the penal code and effectively rewrote the country's relationship with its LGBTQ+ citizens. The maximum prison sentence for consensual same-sex relations was doubled to 10 years. The amendment went further: promoting homosexuality — or simply supporting or financing LGBTQ+ people and organisations — now carries penalties of up to seven years in prison and fines of 500,000 to 5 million CFA francs, roughly £650 to £6,500 (76 Crimes).
The chilling effect has been immediate and has spread well beyond the LGBTQ+ community. Lawyers told Human Rights Watch they were afraid to represent detainees for fear of being prosecuted themselves. Community organisations have suspended some services over safety concerns, cutting off testing, prevention, and support for people who depend on them.
HIV testing and the health crisis
One of the report's starkest findings concerns public health. At least 84 of those detained have been charged with "voluntary HIV transmission" — charged, that is, solely on the basis of their HIV status. Many arrestees have been subjected to forced HIV testing in custody, and the breach of medical confidentiality has been devastating: reports naming individuals' HIV status have appeared in the media (Human Rights Research Council).
The consequences are measurable. Figures collected by Senegal's National Council for the Fight Against AIDS showed attendance at 22 HIV treatment centres fell by 25.6 per cent between January and February. Interviews with more than 50 men who have sex with men found many were staying away from care because they feared being reported, arrested, or harassed. Doctors told Human Rights Watch the legal changes were actively discouraging people from seeking HIV testing and treatment — in a region that already bears a disproportionate share of the global HIV burden.
The paradox is grim: a crackdown framed by many of its supporters as a defence of public health appears, in the data, to be undermining it.
Life underground
Beyond the statistics is a quieter story of daily life constricted. The report describes LGBTQ+ people in Senegal limiting their movements, avoiding public spaces, and concealing their identities to reduce the risk of arrest. One university student in Dakar has barely left his room since February, he told researchers, his days narrowed by fear.
A 23-year-old man recounted being arrested with friends while preparing for a fashion show at his home in Thiès in December 2025. He alleged that police confiscated their phones and subjected them to physical abuse; the charges were ultimately dropped for lack of evidence — but only after the humiliation of detention and exposure.
Related human-rights stories continue to test the limits of international law, from the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Navi Pillay for her work in international justice to ongoing disputes before international courts, including Senegal's recent case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The latest arrests
The crackdown has not slowed. On 12 October, police in Tambacounda, eastern Senegal, arrested 35 people on homosexuality charges, Senegalese media reported. The group reportedly included four school-age students, two university students, two high-school teachers, four healthcare workers, a businessman, a development worker, and a tailor — a diversity of professions that puzzled investigators, who described the group as an "organized criminal network specializing in acts against nature" (76 Crimes).
Police said they had all 35 arrestees tested for HIV: 13 tested positive, but only three were receiving antiretroviral treatment. Investigators reported they were still tracing "accomplices and contacts" — language, health workers say, that further deters anyone at risk from coming forward.
A regional pattern
Senegal is not alone. Across Africa, several governments have moved to tighten laws against LGBTQ+ people in recent years, and the HRW report situates Senegal's crackdown within that wider regional trend. The country's new legislation — particularly its criminalisation of "promotion" — mirrors approaches that have been used elsewhere on the continent to shut down advocacy, journalism, and civil-society work touching on sexual orientation and gender identity.
What makes the Senegal case notable is the speed and scale: hundreds arrested within months, a health system strained by fear, and a legal framework now broad enough to reach lawyers and health workers.
What happens next
Human Rights Watch has called on the government of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye to halt the crackdown. With Senegal set to host the Youth Olympic Games, international scrutiny is likely to intensify — the rights organisation has already questioned the country's compliance with the Olympic charter, which prohibits discrimination of any kind.
Whether that pressure changes anything remains to be seen. For now, in Dakar, Thiès, and Tambacounda, hundreds of people continue to live with the calculation of every step outside their front door.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people have been arrested in Senegal's LGBTQ+ crackdown?
Human Rights Watch says it could not independently establish the total, but Senegalese rights group RADDHO recorded at least 212 arrests between February and July, and the HIV Justice Network reported more than 300 over the same period. Media aggregators now put the figure above 320, including 35 people arrested in Tambacounda on 12 October.
What did Senegal's new law change?
In March, parliament amended Article 319 of the penal code: the maximum prison sentence for consensual same-sex relations was doubled to 10 years, and new penalties of up to seven years in prison plus fines of 500,000–5 million CFA francs were introduced for promoting homosexuality or supporting and financing LGBTQ+ people and organisations.
Why is the crackdown a public-health crisis?
At least 84 detainees have been charged with "voluntary HIV transmission" based solely on their HIV status, and many arrestees have undergone forced HIV testing. Attendance at 22 HIV treatment centres fell by 25.6 per cent between January and February, and doctors say fear of arrest is deterring people from seeking testing and treatment.
What has Human Rights Watch asked the government to do?
HRW researcher Larissa Kojoué said Senegal's government should "call a halt to this crackdown, which threatens everyone's rights." The organisation has also questioned Senegal's compliance with the Olympic charter ahead of the 2026 Youth Olympic Games.
