Anti-LGBTQ+ laws are on the rise across west Africa, campaigners warn
Campaigners warn that West African nations are increasingly implementing anti-LGBTQ+ laws, which activists describe as political opportunism to maintain power. Countries like Senegal, Niger, and Ghana have recently introduced or strengthened legislation criminalizing same-sex relations.
Why it matters
The rise of these laws reflects a broader regional trend of using social issues to consolidate political power and assert sovereignty against Western influence.
African leaders who are toughening anti-LGBTQ+ laws have been accused of ‘political opportunism’ by campaigners. African leaders who are toughening anti-LGBTQ+ laws have been accused of ‘political opportunism’ by campaigners. LGBTQ+ rights Anti-LGBTQ+ laws are on the rise across west Africa, campaigners warn Activists in the region say politicians regard LGBTQ+ people as ‘the easiest scapegoats to maintain their power’
Prefer the Guardian on Google A growing number of west African countries are implementing or strengthening anti-LGBTQ+ laws, amid local political pressures and a global pushback against LGBTQ+ rights.
In March, Senegal doubled the maximum prison sentence for gay sex to 10 years and criminalised the “promotion” of homosexuality. Niger criminalised “sexual relations with a person of the same sex” in February, the first time same-sex intimacy had been outlawed in the country.
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