Concerns are growing that Senegal’s harsh new anti-LGBTQ+ law is already damaging efforts to combat HIV, with key populations reportedly avoiding healthcare services out of fear they could be arrested.
In March, Senegal’s Parliament overwhelmingly passed legislation doubling the existing penalties for consensual same-sex intimacy. The law defines this to include homosexuality, bisexuality and “transsexuality”, with punishments of up to 10 years in prison and fines of more than US$17,000.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye signed the law shortly afterwards. The legislation also criminalises the funding and so-called “promotion of LGBT ideology”, restricting free speech and effectively outlawing advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights. Those offences carry penalties of between three and seven years in prison.
Sharp drop in HIV treatment access
Reuters has cited government data and reports from health officials showing that fewer patients are attending some HIV treatment centres in Senegal. One centre reportedly recorded a 25.6% drop in visits in just one month.
The figures suggest some patients may be avoiding antiretroviral medication, including both HIV prevention and treatment, because of fears linked to the new law.
Reuters also quoted an LGBT community health worker who said they were now too afraid to leave their home.
UNAIDS warned of public health consequences
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS, had previously warned that the repressive law could weaken Senegal’s HIV response.
“Evidence shows that criminalisation causes people to turn away from health services. Criminal laws also increase stigma and discrimination against groups that are already marginalised,” UNAIDS said in March. “An effective HIV response based on solid public health evidence and protections for access to services for the most vulnerable is urgent for Senegal.”
UNAIDS has also noted that new HIV infections in Senegal rose by 36% between 2010 and 2024, making it one of only four countries in West and Central Africa to record an increase in new infections during that period.
Arrests and wider crackdown intensify
Local reports suggest dozens of people have been arrested in Senegal since the start of the year, as part of a broader crackdown on the LGBTQ+ community that began before the law was passed.
In February, police in Dakar arrested 12 people for engaging in “unnatural acts”, a term used to describe same-sex intimacy. They were also charged with the deliberate transmission of HIV/AIDS through unprotected sex.
During the arrests, police seized condoms and lubricants and publicly disclosed the HIV status of several of the men involved.
At least two people are believed to have already been convicted under the new law, adding to fears that the legislation will have a chilling effect on both human rights and public health.
Advocates warn that by driving LGBTQ+ people and other vulnerable communities away from healthcare, Senegal risks making HIV harder to prevent, harder to treat and harder to control.
