Niger’s Military Government Has Made Same-Sex Relations A Crime
The operation is ongoing and will target facilities where people of the same sex live together, including army residences and college campuses.
Niger’s military government has made same-sex relations a crime
Niger had been one of the few countries in Africa whose colonial-era laws did not ban gay sex, only making same-sex acts involving a person under 21 a crime.
But since the military seized control of the country in 2023, it began cracking down on LGBTQ rights, banning LGBTQ practices in 2025.
On June 11, the military junta then passed a new law that punishes same-sex relations with up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to 100 million CFA francs (about US$174,000).
Under the law, same-sex marriage carries a sentence of 10 to 20 years, and running an organization that supports LGBTQ people can bring up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to 500 million CFA francs (about US$871,000).
Since then, authorities have arrested about 40 people and jailed 16 men, according to local media, the Guardian reported.
A government source told Reuters that the operation is ongoing and will target facilities where people of the same sex live together, including army residences and college campuses.
The law has been condemned by human rights groups, who also said it is disrupting work in preventing the spread of HIV.
Health organizations have been shut down and people are going into hiding and losing access to condoms, HIV testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which is a highly effective medicine that prevents HIV.
The law is part of a broader wave of anti-LGBTQ crackdowns across West Africa, with Mali and Burkina Faso banning same-sex relations in 2024 and 2025, and Senegal and Ghana both passing anti-LGBTQ laws and bills.
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