🇸🇳 Republic of Senegal (Senegaal)
Visiting: Take careLGBT visiting: High Risk
Approach Senegal with caution. Same-sex relationships are criminalised, which places it 122nd for LGBT rights, so LGBT travellers should weigh this carefully. Its best measures are only mid-range: freedom is only partly protected, ranking 74th, and there is some exposure to conflict, at 84th. Its weak spot is the roads, which are hazardous, placed 147th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Senegal: 7.9
Ranked 49th in the world for the highest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Eight killings per 100,000 people a year is above the world average of about six, which is where the risky tier begins.
Is it safe to visit?
Take care. A third above the world average. Senegal's police publish no count, so we used the WHO's estimate.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Senegal: 20.8
Ranked 34th in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Twenty-one deaths per 100,000 people a year is well above the world average of fifteen but short of double it.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. Well above the world average.
Conflict
Conflict deaths inside the country in the last twelve months, as recorded by the Uppsala conflict database, civilians killed on purpose, and any UN sanctions or court order over a war. The worst of those sets the colour. Lower is better.
Senegal: 1.53
Ranked 84th least conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
No conflict death is recorded in Senegal in the last five years. The last one the Uppsala conflict database has was in May 2018.
Is it safe to visit?
Reasonable. Nothing is recorded since January 2024, when the last fighting in the Casamance region ended. Dakar and the coast are far from it.
Freedom
Six freedoms rated 0–4 by Freedom House — protest, speech, press, religion, movement and due process. The weakest rating sets the colour, and the total places the country inside it — higher is better.
Senegal: 6.56
Ranked 74th freest country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Senegal the lowest are protest, press and due process at 2. Total 16 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
One of Africa's most stable democracies, with peaceful handovers since 2000. Restrictive laws and intimidation constrain the press, and opposition leaders have faced politically motivated prosecutions. Daily life is open.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Senegal: Illegal
Ranked 59th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Same-sex acts carry up to ten years since a March 2026 amendment doubled the sentence, under a law that is actively enforced. Any criminal law is red.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. Public outings happen and politicians compete on harshness. Enforcement is real.
Women's Safety
Women's safety — feeling safe out at night, political violence against women, a fair hearing in court, and how normal violence at home is, with the night figure setting a floor on the colour — higher is better.
Senegal: 6.73
Ranked 65th least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
No attacks on women are recorded. Fewer than half of women feel safe out alone at night, the courts rate below fair, and 42 percent of women think wife-beating can be justified.
Is it safe to visit?
Take care as a woman travelling alone in Senegal.