🇸🇱 Republic of Sierra Leone
Visiting: ReasonableLGBT visiting: DangerousWomen visiting: Take care
Visiting Sierra Leone means accepting real risks. Same-sex relationships are criminalised, with penalties up to life imprisonment, which places it 162nd for LGBT rights, so LGBT travellers should weigh this carefully. Nothing ranks highly here: violent crime is moderate, at 73rd, and freedom is only partly protected, placed 74th. There is some exposure to conflict, road deaths sit mid-range and women's safety is fair, with all three ranking between 93rd and 103rd.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Sierra Leone: 2.2
Ranked 73rd in the world for the lowest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Two killings per 100,000 people a year is low. The safest countries sit under one, and Sierra Leone is a step above.
Is it safe to visit?
Fine for a visitor. The rate is low on Sierra Leone's own 2020 count.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Sierra Leone: 13.8
Ranked 78th in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Nearly fourteen deaths per 100,000 people a year is just below the world average of fifteen.
Is it safe to visit?
Reasonable, if only just. Below 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.
Sierra Leone: 1.79
Ranked 88th most conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
No conflict death is recorded in Sierra Leone in the last five years. The last one the Uppsala conflict database has was in April 2021.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe. Nothing armed reaches a visitor anywhere in the country.
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.
Sierra Leone: 6.56
Ranked 74th freest country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Sierra Leone the lowest are protest, press and due process at 2. Total 16 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
Regular elections since the civil war ended in 2002, sometimes contested. Demonstrators and opposition parties have faced police violence, so stay clear of protests. Otherwise daily life is open.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Sierra Leone: Life
Ranked 19th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Sex between men carries life imprisonment on paper under an 1861 colonial law, which does not cover women. Any criminal law is red.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe to be open. Prosecutions are rare, but the law legitimises blackmail and family rejection.
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.
Sierra Leone: 6.94
Ranked 78th least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
The courts rate fairly and no attacks on women are recorded. Half of women feel safe out alone at night, partner violence is one in five, and 44 percent think wife-beating can be justified.
Is it safe to visit?
A woman travelling alone should take care when visiting Sierra Leone.