Andrea Sanna
New bill proposal to toughen penalties against LGBTQIA+ rights
Article 319.3 of Senegal’s Penal Code provides penalties for anyone guilty of an “unnatural act with a person of the same sex“. Penalties range from a simple fine to up to five years in prison.
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Last June 24, Cheikh Abdou Bara Dolly Mbacké – deputy of the ruling Freedom, Democracy and Change Party – decided to present a legislative proposal with the aim of further tightening the penalties against the LGBTQIA+ community.
This proposal provides for up to fifteen years in prison and also a fine of up to five million CFA francs.
Nothing new, because the current Head of Government Ousmane Sonko, already during his electoral campaign, had declared that the first act once he came to power would be against the LGBTQIA+ community.
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Cheikh Abdou Bara Dolly Mbacké declared “the need to fight all forms of perversion and to defend moral values against the immorality that would corrupt Senegalese society through Western influences”.
And in this case equating – in addition to homosexuality – bisexuality, transsexuality with zoophilia and necrophilia.
A situation that will increase pressure on the Senegalese LGBTQIA+ community, a nation that sees a greater request for asylum in France due to persecution based on sexual orientation.