Anti-LGBTQ+ laws are on the rise across west Africa, campaigners warn

<p>Activists in the region say politicians regard LGBTQ+ people as ‘the easiest scapegoats to maintain their power’</p><p>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.</p><p>In March, Senegal <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/apr/07/senegal-harsh-anti-gay-law-hiv-progress">doubled the maximum prison sentence</a> for gay sex to 10 years and criminalised the “promotion” of homosexuality. Niger criminalised <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/01/witch-hunt-in-niger-as-military-regime-rounds-up-lgbtq-population">“sexual relations with a person of the same sex”</a> in February, the first time same-sex intimacy had been outlawed in the country.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/02/anti-lgbtq-laws-are-on-the-rise-across-west-africa-campaigners-warn">Continue reading...</a>