Prison Time, Fines And Ostracisation: Anti-gay Law Shocks Community In African Country Seen As Relatively Safe

Jail terms of up to five years for promoting homosexuality in Burkina Faso is latest in push for family values sweeping the continent For my own safety Ive become much more distrustful, Ive shut myself off and try not to talk to certain people, says Paul, a young Burkinab. How will we go to health centres? Will doctors and nurses protect us? Or will they report us? On 1 September, Burkina Fasos minister of justice and human rights, Edasso Rodrigue Bayala, announced an amendment to the CPF which came into force in 1990, establishing for the first time a prison sentence of between two and five years and a fine for those who promote homosexuality.