Senegal has arrested more than 320 people on charges related to homosexuality since February, according to a Human Rights Watch report citing data from the HIV Justice Network. The detentions follow a toughening of the country's law criminalizing homosexuality.
The arrests center on charges of "acts against nature," the legal language used in Senegal's penal code. At least 84 of those detained faced additional charges of "voluntary HIV transmission" based solely on their HIV status, according to the organizations cited in the HRW report.
The crackdown includes mass arrests, forced HIV testing, and barriers to legal representation for detainees, according to HRW. The report indicates that LGBTQ+ people in Senegal are responding by going into hiding as the enforcement intensifies.
Senegal's criminal law has long prohibited same-sex conduct. The recent escalation in arrests and the addition or stricter application of HIV-related charges represent a marked shift in enforcement. The practice of charging people with HIV transmission based on serostatus alone, without evidence of transmission or intent to transmit, extends criminalization beyond the original homosexuality statute.
The HIV Justice Network and HRW framed the detentions as part of a systematic campaign. The forced HIV testing of arrestees raises questions about medical autonomy and due process protections for those in custody. The impediments to legal representation limit detainees' ability to mount defenses against charges that human rights organizations argue may violate international legal standards.
Senegal remains one of several African countries with active criminalization of same-sex relationships. The scale and pace of recent arrests, combined with the additional HIV-based charges, represent an intensification that has prompted LGBTQ+ individuals and their allies to seek concealment or exit the country.