Senegal, Africa

Senegal is an 'African success story'. Its stable government has never experienced a coup d'état; it's one of the most prosperous countries in the region, and it has more than 80 political parties. Senegal is a tolerant Muslim society, with wide religious freedoms, a taste for sexy fashions, and even legal prostitution. But when Senegal's first gay organization, Groupe Andligeey, tried to have a meeting in 2001 in Dakar the nation's Interior Ministry prevented it. Various Senegalese Muslim brotherhoods exercise a strong political influence in the country. The government and culture consider homosexuality as a moral crime, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $3,000 fine. There has been made significant progress in dealing with HIV. Less than 5% of its population is HIV-positive.

 

 

Four arrested for homosexuality in Senegal as part of pre-election crackdown

The LGBTI crackdown ahead of national elections is happening so politicians don’t seem ‘pro-homosexual’ LGBTI groups in Senegal said an increase in arrests for alleged homosexuality is a government crackdown on the LGBTI community. The latest arrests of two men and two women in the capital, Dakar, prompted the comments. Police arrested the four after… Read more »

Lesbians in Senegal just want a place where they can be themselves

It is not easy to find gay women in Senegal. Homosexuality is illegal in the country, though several small LGBT rights groups operate there. But because they were founded during the AIDS crisis and considered as actors in keeping down HIV infection rates, they are focused on men. Lesbian women are now starting to fight… Read more »

Mob trash university in hunt for ‘gay’ man

A mob in Senegal have “burned” and “ransacked” buildings at a university in search of a gay student. The crowd formed last Tuesday at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, after one student accused another of hitting on him in the showers. Amateur footage showed the group going around various buildings of the institution, shouting… Read more »

When rumours spread that a male student had hit on a classmate in the showers of Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, all hell broke loose. A mob formed to track down the suspected homosexual, causing serious damage to buildings on the campus. The events took place last Tuesday on the campus of Dakar’s main… Read more »

11 Arrested for Being Gay in Senegal—Is President Obama to Blame?

Is a recent mass arrest evidence for a continent-wide backlash against American policies? Not so fast. Reports from the West African nation of Senegal say that the government has arrested 11 people accused of homosexual acts. If convicted, those accused—who were rounded up at a “celebration of a gay marriage”—face up to five years in… Read more »

Senegalese Police Arrest 11 Accused of Homosexual Acts

Residents in the Senegalese town of Kaolack say police have arrested 11 people accused of homosexual acts. Boukhari Ndiaye said the arrested were among 20 people attending a celebration of a gay marriage at a school in the town about 200 kilometers (125 miles) southeast of the capital, Dakar, on Friday. He said the 11… Read more »

Calls made for Senegal to release men convicted of homosexual acts

Calls have been made to release seven men arrested in July and sentenced to six months in prison for ‘homosexual acts’. A gay rights activist Djamil Bangoura, the president of Prudence, gay rights group, on Friday said Senegal must release the men arrested in July in Dakar. He said laws must be changed and that… Read more »

4 men arrested over gay bashings in Senegal

Senegalese police have arrested 4 men over a spate of vigilante attacks on alleged homosexuals last Thursday but local Muslims have marched calling for their release Four Senegalese men have been arrested after they attacked five men they alleged were homosexuals with stones and batons on Thursday but protests have been held urging authorities to… Read more »

Senegalese women accused of lesbian acts freed by judge

Four women who were arrested in Senegal earlier this month after they were accused of kissing in public have been set free because of insufficient evidence by police, while the fate of another remains to be seen Four of five women who were arrested 11 November at a restaurant in Dakar’s Yoff district have been… Read more »

Senegal says no to gays

Macky Sall, Senegal’s president, says there is no way his country will legalize gay sex There is no question of decriminalizing same-sex acts in Senegal, affirmed the country’s president Macky Sall. In a statement released today (12 April) by the presidency, he ‘firmly stressed that the state has never considered such an option and it… Read more »

Prove You’re Gay Or Go Home, Home Office Tells Senegales Student

A gay student has been told to prove his sexuality or face deportation to his home country Senegal, where homosexuality is outlawed. Serigne Tacko Mbengue, who studies at Newham College in east London, and is a LGBT campaigner for the NUS, fled to the UK in 2008 to escape homophobic persecution. But the 26-year-old is… Read more »

Senegal: Gay Couple Brutally Assaulted by Parents

Very troubling news to report from the beautiful West African nation of Senegal. A gay couple was viciously beaten when one of the men’s parents caught them having sex, according to Gay Star News. The men were later outed in Senegalese media, which has reportedly used the incident to launch another round of anti-gay hysteria… Read more »

Growing Up Gay in Senegal

Djamil Bangoura has known he is gay since childhood. Growing up in Pikine, a slum of Senegal’s sprawling capital city, Dakar, he kept his sexual orientation a secret for fear of violence, imprisonment, and alienation from his family — the core of Senegalese life. But one day in 2002, colleagues in the recording studio where… Read more »

New Senegalese president called on to protect gay rights

Macky Sall, the new president of Senegal who takes office this week, has been called on to improve the legal protection for gay and lesbian people in his country. The group Human Rights Watch wrote an open letter to the president congratulating him on his election victory and calling on him to address several rights… Read more »

Senegal: Double Sentence — AIDS in a Local Prison

From U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Though Senegal’s HIV rate of less than 1 percent is among the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, vulnerabilities remain in this majority-Muslim country. Some 22 percent of Senegalese men who have sex with men (MSM) are HIV-positive. And the country’s prisons are a high-risk environment for HIV transmission… Read more »

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are at high risk for HIV in Senegal

Abstract Men who have sex with men (MSM) are at high risk for HIV in Senegal, with a prevalence of 21.5%. In December 2008, nine male HIV prevention workers were imprisoned for “acts against nature” prohibited by Senegalese law. This qualitative study assessed the impact of these arrests on HIV prevention efforts. A purposive sample… Read more »

Gay Senegal News & Reports 2011

1 Religious Leaders Fuel Homophobia Says Amnesty International 6/11 2 Reporting About LGBTI Issues in the African Media 7/11 3 Knowledge, attitudes and practices related to STD and HIV/AIDS 9/11 June 29th, 2011 – Behind The Mask 1 Religious Leaders Fuel Homophobia Says Amnesty International by Jerina Chandze Messie Amnesty International’s 2010 annual report on… Read more »

Gay Senegal News & Reports 2009-10

Useful websites for LGBT Africa: http://www.mask.org.za/ 1 Shock at Senegal gay jail terms 1/09 2 Senegalese AIDS activist among nine men jailed for sodomy 1/09 3 Human rights group claims Senegal’s sodomy law criminalises HIV work 1/09 4 Activists Express Concern Over Sentencing of Gay Men in Senegal 1/09 5 EU and UN condemn arrest… Read more »

Gay Senegal News & Reports 2000-08

Useful websites for LGBT Africa: http://www.mask.org.za/ 00 Same-Sex Sexuality in Africa: A Case Study from Senegal 5/00 0 Surprising Senegal, France meets Africa in this land of music and… 10/04 1 Senegal: Gay community plays it quietly in face of social taboos 1/05 2 SenegalL: HIV-positive gays face double stigma 2/06 2a Hidden Homosexuality Presents… Read more »