A court in Senegal’s Pikine-Guédiawaye suburb on Friday issued the country’s first conviction under a recently updated anti-homosexuality law, sentencing a 24-year-old laborer to prison and ordering a fine. The court convicted him of “acts against nature and public indecency,” according to reporting from the Associated Press.
The 24-year-old man received a six-year prison term and a fine of 2 million CFA, which the report equated to $3,300. The AP said he was arrested earlier this month and that the conviction came as prosecutors applied the expanded penalties set out in the new law.
Senegal, a largely Muslim country, is among a number of African states that criminalize homosexual acts, the AP reported. The law increases prison sentences for convictions involving homosexual acts to between five and 10 years.
Under the same legislation, Senegal also punishes conduct described in the statute as the “promotion” or “financing” of homosexuality. Human rights advocates say the added language is aimed at groups that support sexual and gender minorities, according to the AP report.
Human Rights Watch researcher Larissa Kojoué told the Associated Press that the law has produced what she described as a climate of “constant fear,” and that arrests have become more aggressive. Kojoué said the change reflected “backing from the state apparatus,” according to the AP.
The Associated Press report also said that more than 30 of Africa’s 54 countries criminalize homosexual acts. It added that in Somalia, Uganda and Mauritania, the offense can carry the death penalty.
In Senegal, the new conviction marks a further step in the enforcement of a legal framework that rights groups say increases risk for LGBTQ+ people and those who support them.