{"id":1790131,"date":"2026-02-24T13:44:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T10:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1790131"},"modified":"2026-02-24T13:44:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T10:44:30","slug":"senegal-students-feel-betrayed-fear-for-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1790131","title":{"rendered":"Senegal students feel betrayed, fear for future"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/71173868_6.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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https:\/\/p.dw.com\/p\/59KMR<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
Sonko announced the legislation in parliament, which would have to approve it. FILE: December 27, 2024.Image: Seyllou\/AFP<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko<\/a> on Tuesday unveiled legislation to double the maximum penalty for same-sex relations.<\/p>\n

People are regularly arrested on such charges in traditionalist, Muslim-majority\u00a0Senegal<\/a>, where they currently face a prison sentence of up to five years.<\/p>\n

What law change is proposed on same-sex relations?<\/h2>\n

“Anyone committing an act against nature will be punished by five to 10 years’ imprisonment,” compared with one to five years under the current law, Sonko told parliament.<\/p>\n

“Anyone who commits an unnatural act will be punished by five to ten years’ imprisonment,” compared with one to five years currently, Sonko said in a question-and-answer session in the National Assembly, referring to the proposed bill.<\/p>\n

The legislation would have to be submitted to a vote by lawmakers, although no date has yet been set.<\/p>\n

The issue has come to the fore in recent weeks by a series of arrests of people \u2014 including celebrities \u2014 for alleged same-sex acts.<\/p>\n

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Senegal students feel betrayed, fear for future<\/h2>\n

State-owned daily newspaper Le Soleil <\/em>cited Sonko, who has been in power since 2024<\/a>, as saying that the the offense would remain a mid-level one rather than a felony.<\/p>\n

The bill relates to both same-sex relations and child sex abuse, which are often conflated by the Senegalese media.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“If the act is committed with a minor, the maximum sentence will be imposed,” Sonko told lawmakers.<\/p>\n

He said the bill\u00a0changed the penal code to stipulate that “any sexual act or act of a sexual nature between two people of the same sex constitutes an act against nature.”<\/p>\n

In recent years, religious associations have staged demonstrations\u00a0to demand tougher penalties.<\/p>\n

Edited by:\u00a0Saim Du\u0161an Inayatullah<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

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Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko<\/a> on Tuesday unveiled legislation to double the maximum penalty for same-sex relations.<\/p>\n

People are regularly arrested on such charges in traditionalist, Muslim-majority\u00a0Senegal<\/a>, where they currently face a prison sentence of up to five years.<\/p>\n

What law change is proposed on same-sex relations?<\/h2>\n

“Anyone committing an act against nature will be punished by five to 10 years’ imprisonment,” compared with one to five years under the current law, Sonko told parliament.<\/p>\n

“Anyone who commits an unnatural act will be punished by five to ten years’ imprisonment,” compared with one to five years currently, Sonko said in a question-and-answer session in the National Assembly, referring to the proposed bill.<\/p>\n

The legislation would have to be submitted to a vote by lawmakers, although no date has yet been set.<\/p>\n

The issue has come to the fore in recent weeks by a series of arrests of people \u2014 including celebrities \u2014 for alleged same-sex acts.<\/p>\n

\n

Senegal students feel betrayed, fear for future<\/h2>\n

State-owned daily newspaper Le Soleil <\/em>cited Sonko, who has been in power since 2024<\/a>, as saying that the the offense would remain a mid-level one rather than a felony.<\/p>\n

The bill relates to both same-sex relations and child sex abuse, which are often conflated by the Senegalese media.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“If the act is committed with a minor, the maximum sentence will be imposed,” Sonko told lawmakers.<\/p>\n

He said the bill\u00a0changed the penal code to stipulate that “any sexual act or act of a sexual nature between two people of the same sex constitutes an act against nature.”<\/p>\n

In recent years, religious associations have staged demonstrations\u00a0to demand tougher penalties.<\/p>\n

Edited by:\u00a0Saim Du\u0161an Inayatullah<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko<\/a> on Tuesday unveiled legislation to double the maximum penalty for same-sex relations.<\/p>\n

People are regularly arrested on such charges in traditionalist, Muslim-majority\u00a0Senegal<\/a>, where they currently face a prison sentence of up to five years.<\/p>\n

“Anyone committing an act against nature will be punished by five to 10 years’ imprisonment,” compared with one to five years under the current law, Sonko told parliament.<\/p>\n

“Anyone who commits an unnatural act will be punished by five to ten years’ imprisonment,” compared with one to five years currently, Sonko said in a question-and-answer session in the National Assembly, referring to the proposed bill.<\/p>\n

The legislation would have to be submitted to a vote by lawmakers, although no date has yet been set.<\/p>\n

The issue has come to the fore in recent weeks by a series of arrests of people \u2014 including celebrities \u2014 for alleged same-sex acts.<\/p>\n

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video<\/a><\/p>\n

State-owned daily newspaper Le Soleil <\/em>cited Sonko, who has been in power since 2024<\/a>, as saying that the the offense would remain a mid-level one rather than a felony.<\/p>\n

The bill relates to both same-sex relations and child sex abuse, which are often conflated by the Senegalese media.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“If the act is committed with a minor, the maximum sentence will be imposed,” Sonko told lawmakers.<\/p>\n

He said the bill\u00a0changed the penal code to stipulate that “any sexual act or act of a sexual nature between two people of the same sex constitutes an act against nature.”<\/p>\n

In recent years, religious associations have staged demonstrations\u00a0to demand tougher penalties.<\/p>\n

Edited by:\u00a0Saim Du\u0161an Inayatullah<\/em><\/p>\n

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[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/71173868_6.jpg”] https:\/\/p.dw.com\/p\/59KMR Sonko announced the legislation in parliament, which would have to approve it. FILE: December 27, 2024.Image: Seyllou\/AFP Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko on Tuesday unveiled legislation to double the maximum penalty for same-sex relations. People are regularly arrested on such charges in traditionalist, Muslim-majority\u00a0Senegal, where they currently face a prison sentence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,74],"class_list":["post-1790131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dw-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1790131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1790131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1790131\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1790131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1790131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1790131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}