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

Senegal and Niger have both moved to expand anti-LGBTQ+ laws this year, part of what The Guardian describes as a broader rise in such measures across west Africa. In March, Senegal doubled the maximum prison sentence for gay sex to ten years and made the "promotion" of homosexuality a crime, while Niger criminalized same-sex intimacy for the first time in February. Campaigners cited by The Guardian say the trend reflects local political pressures alongside a wider global pushback against LGBTQ+ rights.

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