Overview
- Ousmane Sonko presented the draft to the National Assembly on February 24 after ministers approved it last week.
- The proposal would raise prison terms for same‑sex relations to five to ten years, up from one to five years under current law.
- It would criminalize advocacy for same‑sex relations with three to seven years in prison and punish accusations made without proof.
- The text links provisions to child sex abuse by imposing the maximum term when a minor is involved and defines acts between two people of the same sex as "against nature."
- Police reported 12 recent arrests under existing laws as Human Rights Watch criticized the crackdown, with local media citing roughly 30 detentions and religious groups calling for harsher measures.