June 11, 2026
Military-run Niger has enacted a new penal code criminalising for the first time same-sex relations, with heavy sentences of up to 20 years in prison, a legal source said Thursday quoting the official gazette.
Although a taboo subject, same-sex relations had not been criminalised in Muslim-majority Niger, which follows several other African nations in toughening their anti-LGBTQ legislation.
Under Niger’s new law, same-sex relations will be punishable by a jail term of between five and less than 10 years and a fine.
But “anyone who enters into marriage with a person of the same sex” faces 10 to 20 years imprisonment.
