On September 1, 2025, Burkina Faso’s Transitional Legislative Assembly approved the new Persons and Family Code, which criminalizes consensual same-sex relations by imposing prison terms of two to five years and fines up ranging from 3,000 to 10,000 euros. While the revised Code includes progressive provisions such as setting the minimum marriage age at 18 and ending gender discrimination in inheritance, Amnesty warns the homosexuality ban is a severe setback that undermines equality and violates Burkina Faso’s international human rights commitments. The organization has called on President Ibrahim Traoré to send the Code back to the assembly for revision before signing it into law.
Compiled From: Amnesty International, “Burkina Faso: Criminalization of consensual same-sex relations between adults an alarming setback undermining progressive provisions of the new Persons and Family Code,” Amnesty International, Sept. 2, 2025; see also, The Associated Press, “Burkina Faso joins African nations with laws banning homosexuality,” AP News, Sept. 2, 2025.