Rights groups urge Senegal authorities to protect LGBT community amid wave of homophobia

International rights groups are calling on Senegal to protect the rights of LGBT people amid a wave of homophobia in the West African country.

Earlier this month, 12 men were arrested in Dakar on charges of “acts against nature” and the intentional transmission of HIV. They include a well known television reporter and a popular musician.

Media coverage of the arrests is now fueling fear and stigma within the LGBT community. HIV-focused health workers say they are also worried about being implicated via contact traces on the detainees’ devices.

Hostility toward homosexuality has increased in Senegal in recent years and so-called “unnatural acts” are already punishable by up to five years in prison.

But two recent parliamentary efforts to toughen penalties have both failed.

Now the conservative Muslim group And Samm Djikko Yi, or Together to Protect Values, is demanding that the government to further criminalise homosexuality. It’s threatening to start a nationwide campaign if new laws aren’t enacted by April.

Human Rights Watch and other organisations are urging Senegalese authoritites to release those detained, repeal discriminatory laws.