A wave of new and strengthened anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is sweeping West Africa, driven by domestic political calculation and reinforced by international conservative networks, activists and researchers say.
Senegal in March doubled the maximum sentence for homosexuality to 10 years and outlawed the “promotion” of same-sex relationships. Niger criminalised same-sex intimacy for the first time in February. Mali and Burkina Faso have done the same within the past two years — all three now under military rule. Ghana’s parliament passed a bill in June targeting LGBTQ+ “activities,” though the president has yet to sign it.
Anthony Oluoch of Pan Africa ILGA described the trend as political opportunism, noting that while some governments invoke religion and “family values,” others — like Burkina Faso — frame the crackdown as resistance to Western influence. He said both strands are underpinned by coordinated transnational support.
The human cost has been severe. A HIV worker in Burkina Faso said 13 transgender women were held without trial for months last year and beaten by a military unit, and that police are now using social media to entrap LGBTQ+ people and pressure them into naming others. He fled the country in May after being identified by a detainee.
Despite its anti-Western posture, Burkina Faso will next year host the African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family Values and Sovereignty — an event researchers link to a string of anti-LGBTQ+ laws across the continent, including Uganda’s 2023 law imposing the death penalty for some same-sex acts. The gathering has drawn support from US-based Family Watch International and the Dutch-founded Christian Council International.
This year’s conference, held in Ghana’s parliament, produced a draft African Charter on Family Sovereignty and Values rejecting abortion and comprehensive sex education. Researcher Amanda Odoi said Ghana’s bill closely mirrors Uganda’s, calling foreign actors central to funding and legitimising the campaign. Rightify Ghana’s Ebenezer Peegah said Ghana was chosen deliberately for its continental influence and democratic credibility.
In Senegal, activist Marame Kane said the new law is also disrupting HIV prevention services for high-risk groups and complicating legal representation for LGBTQ+ people.
