{"id":36943,"date":"2026-06-12T15:33:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T13:33:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=36943"},"modified":"2026-06-12T15:33:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T13:33:53","slug":"niger-adopts-new-penal-code-officially-criminalises-homosexuality","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/niger-adopts-new-penal-code-officially-criminalises-homosexuality\/","title":{"rendered":"Niger adopts new penal code, officially criminalises homosexuality"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Niger has taken an unprecedented step in its legislation by adopting a new Penal Code on Thursday that criminalises same-sex relations for the first time. The text formalises heavy prison sentences and financial penalties targeting sexual minorities.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The new legal framework now provides for a prison sentence of five to ten years, alongside a fine of up to 100 million CFA Francs ($164 000), for anyone found guilty of engaging or attempting to engage in sexual relations with a person of the same sex. The sanctions become even harsher in the event of an official union, with individuals contracting a marriage with a partner of the same sex facing between ten and twenty years of imprisonment.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>With these provisions coming into force, Niger joins several West African states that have recently tightened or toughened their legislative arsenal regarding LGBT+ people.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":36005,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-36943","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Niger has taken an unprecedented step in its legislation by adopting a new Penal Code on Thursday that criminalises same-sex relations","published_date":"2026-06-12 15:28:06","news_description":"Niger has taken an unprecedented step in its legislation by adopting a new Penal Code on Thursday that criminalises same-sex relations","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/36943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/36943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36944,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/36943\/revisions\/36944"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=36943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}