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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAuthorities and media frequently link gay sex to HIV, leading to additional charges
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\nSenegal\u2019s gendarmerie released this photo of 12 men arrested on homosexuality charges in February.<\/p>\n
Amid a deepening crackdown against queer people in Senegal, a pattern is emerging where authorities conspire with police, health services, and the press collaborate to whip up panic about gay men and HIV, often with the result that accusations and charges of \u201cvoluntary transmission of HIV\u201d are increasingly being added to prosecutions for \u201cunnatural acts.\u201d
\nSince March, consensual same-sex relations in Senegal have become punishable by 5 to 10 years\u2019 imprisonment, with fines reaching to 10 million CFA francs (approximately $18,000 USD) in a country where the median monthly income is only around 170,000 CFA francs ($300 USD). Previously, the maximum penalty was only 5 years in prison and 1.5 million CFA francs ($2,700 USD). The law also prevents the granting of reduced sentences or even suspended sentences.
\nMore than fifty men have been caught in a wave of arrests since the law was passed, including well-known figures from the country\u2019s television, music, and religious scenes. In many cases, these men have been charged with both unnatural acts and transmitting HIV.
\nReflecting the hysteria around HIV and gay men, the National Blood Transfusion Centre in Dakar put out a press release reiterating the safety of the blood supply after one of the centre\u2019s doctors was the focus of a high-profile arrest and charged with unnatural acts as he attempted to flee the country at the Blaise Diagne International Airport.
\nOn Thursday 2 April at 10.00 pm, the case of a brilliant doctor from the National Blood Transfusion Centre (CNTS) in Dakar, who attempted to take his own life within the grounds of Blaise Diagne International Airport upon learning the reason for his arrest for \u201cunnatural acts,\u201d fuelled the worst homophobic fantasies among the Senegalese public regarding a homosexual conspiracy aimed at contaminating and poisoning blood bags intended for transfusion, in order to infect the Senegalese population with HIV.
\nScience in the service of homophobia in Senegal
\nMen alleged to be homosexual in the press are simultaneously arrested on the basis of denunciations or circumstantial evidence, even though they had previously led perfectly peaceful lives, chatting anonymously on private messaging platforms, sheltered from prying eyes.
\nThen, in a second phase, the medical profession is mobilised by the authorities to supposedly prove homosexuality beyond doubt, using the discredited and humiliating practice of anal tests. Armed with pseudo-scientific backing for criminal charges of homosexuality, authorities leak the suspects\u2019 medical reports to journalists who whip up public sentiment against the \u2018goordjiguen\u2019 (men-women in Wolof).
\nFinally, the public health authorities are also called upon to protect Senegalese society, and any detainee suspected of homosexuality who tests positive for HIV is immediately charged with the \u201cwillful transmission\u201d of the virus, facing a potential sentence of 5 to 10 years\u2019 imprisonment and a fine of 2 to 5 million CFA francs ($3500 to $9000 USD). Once again, names are publicly dragged through the mud, fuelling the headlines of local newspapers linking HIV, homosexuality and public health risks.
\n See Also<\/p>\n
An unprecedented setback for public health
\nThe consequences of this stigma are already being felt on the ground.
\n\u201cPeople living with HIV are coming to hospital less and less for check-ups, tests or treatment. This is an unprecedented setback because the people who need it most are no longer seeking care, yet the virus can affect anyone regardless of their sexual orientation. It\u2019s a disaster,\u201d\u00a0says Sadio (a pseudonym), a Senegalese researcher who wishes to remain anonymous.
\n\u201cIt will take several years to regain the trust of the people and groups that took decades to build, in order to integrate them into the care pathway for people living with HIV. In just a few days, years of on-the-ground prevention campaigns have been shattered, and we now need to rebuild the entire Senegalese preventive healthcare system to avoid an explosion in HIV cases in the coming months,\u201d he says.
\nMya, a Senegalese woman living in Canada, agrees.
\n\u201cThe Senegalese government is paving the way for stigmatisation. The message being sent to the public is that if you are living with HIV, you are gay, and that a gay person is a criminal,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n